Game 1: Farmingdale State 2, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 1
Game 2: Farmingdale State 4, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 3
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | The Farmingdale State College softball team wrapped up its regular season on Senior Day in grand style Saturday, as the Rams swept a Skyline Conference doubleheader from visiting St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. FSC (25-15, 15-3 Skyline) won the first game courtesy of a go-ahead triple in the bottom of the sixth inning by freshman
Emily Lopez (Miller Place, N.Y.), 2-1, before walking off with a 4-3 triumph over the Bears (20-14, 12-6) in the second contest.
Prior to the game, Farmingdale State held a Senior Day ceremony to recognize its three four-year student-athletes: pitcher
Deanna Ebert (Bay Shore, N.Y.), designated player
Samantha Stolfi (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) and second baseman
Lauren Varagnolo (Centereach, N.Y.).
In game one, St. Joseph's broke the scoreless deadlock with one run in the top of the fourth inning after the Rams stranded runners on third base in the second and third innings.
From there, FSC battled back with the tying run with two out in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Varagnolo crossed the plate after a dropped fly ball in the outfield. The Rams then scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, with junior third baseman
Bailey Hammock (Port Jervis, N.Y.) reached on a leadoff hit to the left of the Bears' second baseman. Stolfi's sacrifice bunt moved Hammock up 60 feet, before Lopez (2-for-3, 2B) chased the junior home with a deep triple down the right-field line that dropped in just out of the reach of the St. Joseph's right fielder.
Junior pitcher
Madison DeMaio (Elmont, N.Y.) then worked around a two-out walk in the top of the seventh inning, and induced a game-ending ground out to Varagnolo to secure the victory. DeMaio scattered five hits and one walk while fanning five St. Joseph's hitters to move her record to 16-9 on the campaign. Hammock, along with sophomores
Alexandra Pole (Rocky Point, N.Y.) and
Natalie McMichael (Smithtown, N.Y.) all registered one hit apiece to start the afternoon.
The Bears opened game two with a one-run first inning, before the Rams responded back with a two-run second frame to take the lead. Consecutive bunt singles by junior
Ashley Toro (Islip, N.Y.) and sophomore
Nikole Galgano (Levittown, N.Y.) gave the hosts runners at the corners, before McMichael's sacrifice bunt brought Toro (2-for-3) home and sent Galgano to third base with heads-up base running. Varagnolo's third-base line squeeze bunt caused confusion in the St. Joseph's infield, which allowed Galgano to score the go-ahead run.
St. Joseph's responded with a leadoff double in the top of the fourth inning, using a sacrifice fly to tie the game back up at 2-2. The teams then traded one run apiece in the sixth inning, with FSC evening the score at 3-all when Toro's two-out single to center field scored pinch runner
Mea Metz (Fr.; Wappingers Falls, N.Y.).
After Farmingdale State relief pitcher
Kiara Kegel (Fr.; Massapequa, N.Y.) worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, the Rams used small ball to scratch across the winning run with two down in their half of the inning. McMichael led off the inning with a first-pitch single up the middle, before moving up 60 feet on a sacrifice by Varagnolo. McMichael moved to third base on a right-side ground out by Sturtz, before Hammock's first-pitch swing went to the Bears' third baseman. However, the throw to first base sailed wide, and allowed McMichael to cross with the walk-off run.
Kegel pitched the final five innings of the game to earn her eighth win of the season, allowing two earned runs, two hits and one walk along the way.
Farmingdale State will enter next week's six-team 2026 Skyline Conference Softball Championship as the No. 2 seed, and has earned a first-round bye into Thursday's four-team double elimination segment of the tourney at top-seeded Manhattanville University.
