Softball coming home strong
By Jim Krencik
Sports Editor
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| Courtney Turchan (Photo by Jim Krencik) |
The College at Brockport faced a grueling road trip last week, but after five wins in six road games the Golden Eagles are looking at something much better — a place near the top of the SUNYAC standings.
Brockport (19-11, 10-4 SUNYAC) bounced between home and road without faltering, as trips to Potsdam and Oswego ended with doubleheader sweeps.
Freshman Stephanie Geer strong-armed her way through the week, earning three wins and a save on the road trip. Geer has accounted for half of Brockport’s SUNYAC wins. She took the hill in game one of each of the three doubleheaders and never relented, pitching complete games three days in a row.
Brockport used strong support from the mound en route to a 2-1 win in Potsdam and a 5-0 win in Oswego. Golden Eagles’ batters battled better in game two both days, with a 7-6 win in Potsdam and a mercy-rule 14-1 win over Oswego.
The wins came against two of the SUNYAC’s lower-class teams, but the weekend’s final contest was against the top-ranked team in the conference. The Golden Eagles lost a tight 2-1 game against Cortland, but Brockport’s 3-2 win was only the second time a conference team had toppled the Red Dragons this year.
Brockport earned a split with the No. 22-ranked team in part because of a big performance by Courtney Turchan, who hit in the game-winning run in game one and eked out her first career home run in game two. Turchan is hitting a team-leading .462 batting average this season, with 12 of her 36 hits coming on doubles.
The combination of clutch hitting and dominant pitching has earned the team momentum, but there will be no time for Brockport to let up.
After playing their final road game of the season Wednesday at SUNYIT, the Golden Eagles will take on the two teams they are tied with in the standings. The Oneonta Red Dragons (Friday, April 25) and New Paltz Hawks (Saturday, April 26) will both come to the Clark V. Whited Softball Complex looking to improve playoff positioning.
While facing those two teams back-to-back won’t be easy, after what this team has been through it certainly won’t be hard.
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