Canton, NY – Molly Dowson had four hits and five runs batted in, and the SUNY Canton softball team downed the VTSU Johnson Badgers in game one, earning Head Coach Kelsy Waite her first ever win in their 2026 home opener Wednesday afternoon.

In the first game, the Roos used a 10-run third inning to run-rule the Badgers, winning 12-3 in five innings. Game two was an absolute slugfest with VTSU Johnson pulling ahead by 10 runs early, SUNY Canton making a comeback in the next few innings, but ultimately falling short by a score of 19-14 as the two former NAC foes split the doubleheader.    

THE BASICS

• Result: Game 1: SUNY Canton 12, VTSU Johnson 3 (5 Inn.) | VTSU Johnson 19, SUNY Canton 14  
• Location: SUNY Canton Softball Field – Canton, NY
• Records: SUNY Canton (1-9) | VTSU Johnson (1-8)

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
GAME 1 – BOX SCORE

• The Roos got on the board in the first inning after Madelin Marquart was plunked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI single by Dowson.
• The Badgers put together a two-out rally in the top of the third with a double out to the wall followed by a single up the middle to tie the game at 1.
• SUNY Canton got it going in the bottom of the frame though with seven hits and 10 runs. Highlights from the inning included a three-run double by Rylynn Martin-McIntyre and a  two-run double from Adrianna Mathusa as the Roos blew the game open.
• Martin-McIntyre plated another run in the fourth inning off her second double of the game to make the score 12-1.
• VTSU Johnson got going again in the fifth inning with a leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly to score their second run of the game. The Badgers scored one more, but Arianna Steele got the final two outs to seal the win, 12-3 in five innings.
• Marquart, Dowson, and Martin-McIntyre each had two hits with Martin-McIntyre going for four RBIs in the win.
• Sydney Tanner pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three earned runs to get her first win of the season. Steele tossed 0.2 innings of shutout ball to close the game.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

GAME 2 – BOX SCORE

• The Roos looked good early in game two as well. Dowson drove home Marquart for the game's first run in the bottom of the first and then two more came across to score in the inning as SUNY Canton was up 3-0 early.  
• The top of the third though was an inning to forget for the Roos. 19 Badgers stepped up to the plate, several errors, several walks, and eight hits sent 13 runners to score as the Roos had a big hole to climb out of.
• The comeback effort immediately began in their next at-bats with Ava Bouchey plating a run on an RBI single. Cassandra Forrest drove one home with a groundball later in the inning and Emily Hobart added an RBI with a double down the line, and the Roos finished the inning down 13-6.
• Even with the three-run third inning SUNY Canton had, Johnson restored their advantage back up to 10 with three more runs in the next two innings.
• In the bottom of the fifth with the Badgers threatening to end the game prematurely, the Roos got going with Bridgette Fox drawing a walk and Bouchey reaching on an infield base hit. The two executed a 1^st-and-3^rd double steal to score Fox. After this Cassandra Forrest blasted a home run over the left field wall and SUNY Canton creeped a little closer, now down 16-9.
• SUNY Canton got even closer in the sixth with Dowson adding to her RBI total with a two-run single. Dowson later scored on a wild pitch while Fox and Bouchey scored in the inning as well as the Roos were down just 16-14.
• Unfortunately, though, after surrending eight unanswered runs, the Badgers got their offense back in action in the top of the seventh with a double, a single, and two-run homerun to get up 19-14.
• The Roos could not keep the offense rolling in the bottom of the seventh, striking out three times to finalize the game 19-14 as Johnson earned the split.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Roos will kickstart their conference season with a doubleheader at Oswego at 3 and 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3^rd.
   

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