Riding team returning to national competition

The Skidmore riding team will compete for its second consecutive and eighth overall Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championship, May 1-3 in Harrisburg, Pa. The team secured its spot at the IHSA championships with a second-place finish in Sunday's Zone 2 finals. St. Lawrence finished first with 46 points, just in front of the the Thoroughbreds, who tallied 37. The two teams shared the 2013 IHSA national championship. Competing for Skidmore in the team competition will be Ursula Green '16, Jessica Stoukides '16 , Hanna Reynolds '16, Abbie Gibson '16, Lauren Kuong '17, and Caroline Montgomery '16. Stoukides also qualified for nationals as an individual.

Women’s tennis took third place at the Wellesley Nor’easter bowl, downing No. 24 Brandeis University and No. 14 Trinity College. Lee Ford ’14 and Madeline Benn ’17 picked up key wins in the Thoroughbreds’ (12-2) 5-4 win against Brandeis, pairing for an 8-3 win at number-one doubles and securing wins at number-two and number-three singles, respectively, to clinch the victory. The team was shutout by No. 4 Amherst College in its semifinal match, but came back with a 6-3 win against Trinity in the third-place match.  The Thoroughbreds swept doubles to take a 3-0 lead and Ford, Zoe Valella ’15, and Rachel Plevinsky ’14 all notched wins in singles. The team hosts the College of New Jersey at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

Softball finished the week 4-4, dropping a pair of games against Sage College before earning splits with Castleton State College and RPI. The team ended the week with a sweep of Cazenovia College. The Thoroughbreds (6-10) were edged by Sage, 3-2, 2-1 and won game two of their doubleheader against Castleton, 2-1, after dropping the opening game 3-2. Following a 10-4 loss in the first game against RPI, the Thoroughbreds picked up their first win against the Engineers since the 2010 season with a 6-4 come-from-behind victory in game two. The team used a four-run sixth inning to pull off the win. Mackenzie Whiting ’16 was 2-3 with two doubles and three RBI and Cassie Fishkin ’16 was 2-2 with a pair of runs, while also earning her third win of the season on the mound. Fishkin belted a two-run homerun in the team’s first game against Cazenovia and Lil Rosenfeld ’15 recorded her first win of the season, going five innings and allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out four. She helped her own cause in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI double. In the second game the Thoroughbreds piled on five runs in the fifth inning for an 8-0 win. Whiting went 3-3 with three RBI and Lauren Fortunato ’17 was 2-2 with a pair of RBI. Fishkin threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four. The team travels to MCLA for a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10.

Men’s lacrosse rebounded from a midweek loss to RPI to beat Trinity College, 8-5, and rout Bard College, 18-1. Quinn Hawkins ’14 recorded a hat trick and Matt Diaco ’14 made 20 saves to lead the team against Trinity. Ten players produced goals for the Thoroughbreds (3-8) against Bard. Hawkins and Josh Trachtenberg ’15 led the way, potting four goals each. Kevin Mulvey ’14 added two goals and six assists and Jack Metzler ’17 netted a pair of goals. The team hosts Clarkson at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

Baseball swept Cazenovia College after suffering a loss to Vassar College and dropping a pair of games against RPI. Kenny Ajello ’17 improved to 2-0 on the mound for the Thoroughbreds (5-9) in an 8-3 win against Cazenovia, going four innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Erik Watkins ’14 was 3-4 with a double and two RBI, Matt Barra ’15 went 2-4 and Marco Baratta ’16 was 2-3 with an RBI double in the opening game. In game two, Ben Murphy ’17 didn’t allow a hit over the first five innings en route to his first win of the season in a 13-3 contest. He allowed two runs on one hit, while walking three and striking out three. Nick Barra ’15 went 2-3 with a pair of doubles, Chris Lorenz ’15 went 2-3 with an RBI and two runs and Dan Johnstone ’14 was 2-3 with a double and two RBI.

Women’s lacrosse suffered a pair of Liberty League defeats, falling against Union College and William Smith College. Spencer Morgan ’15 tallied four goals and Peggy Healy ’15 and Emma Olcott ’17 both found the back of the net twice against Union. Morgan recorded four goals for the second consecutive game in a 10-5 setback against William Smith. Tyler Phillips ’17 produced her fifth multi-point game of the season with a goal and two assists and Megan Kolopsky ’17 turned away a career-high 11 shots in goal for the Thoroughbreds (2-8, 1-4 Liberty). The team goes on the road to take on the University of Rochester at 4 p.m. Friday, April 11.

Men’s tennis lost to No. 4 Amherst College, 9-0. Miles Ransom ’15 played the closest match of the day for the Thoroughbreds (6-6), just missing at number-three singles in a marathon three-set match, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-4).  The team travels to College of New Jersey for a 1 p.m. match Saturday, April 12. ~ By Dan St.-Jacques