CLEARWATER, FLA. -- The LIU Brooklyn softball team fell twice on Saturday at the USF Tournament in Clearwater. First, the Blackbirds were defeated by Buffalo, 11-1 (five innings) and then were topped by Towson, 8-3 in their second game at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
The Blackbirds (14-11) will look to stop their current losing streak when they wrap up the USF-Michelle Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational Tournament on Sunday morning with a matchup against Brown at 11:15 a.m.
BUFFALO 11, LIU 1 (5 innings)
In the second inning, Buffalo stormed out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back, as sophomore pitcher Victoria Lowe (3-6) only wnet 1.1 innings in the start. The Bulls then put the game away in the fourth frame, scoring off of juniors Tallie Woodson and Haley Irvis, before freshman Zoe Estoppey came into the circle for the first time this weekend.
The Blackbirds got four hits in the game, three of them coming in the fourth inning, when Kristen Blanchard got on for Kiana Cisneros, who singled her home, for the only LIU run of the game. Camryn Lyman earned her hit in the fourth after Cisneros to put pressure on the Bulls, but the rally was upended. Leadoff hitter Patricia Griffin got her hit in the fifth inning.
Buffalo starter Ally Power (2-9) went the distance for her second win of the season on the mound and Anna Aguon went 3-for-4 with one run and 3 RBIs.
TOWSON 8, LIU 3
The Blackbirds' season-high losing streak was extended to three games on Saturday afternoon, as LIU lost to Towson, 8-3 at the USF Tournament on Saturday.
Towson got on the scoreboard in the first frame when Nicole Stockinger hit a double to deep centerfield to bring around the first run of the game. The game stayed at 1-0 until the third inning, when LIU's Schae Dickson knocked in Patricia Griffin to tie the game at 1-1. Then with Dickson on third base, Kiana Cisneros hit a sacrifice fly to get Dickson home and give LIU a brief 2-1 lead.
But the Tigers tied it back up in the third, before exploding for five runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Towson added one more run in the fifth inning, before LIU scratched out a run in the bottom of the sixth, to get the deficit back to five runs, 8-3.
Griffin, and infielders Camryn Lyman and Alina Castillo each had two hits in the game for the Blackbirds to lead the offense. Freshman starter Elena Ventura (7-3) suffered her third loss of the season.
Starter Sara Johnson (2-4) threw the complete game for Towson (11-9). Stockinger had two hits and two RBIs, while leadoff hitter Riley Thies scored two runs and drove in a pair for the Tigers.