Buffalo, NY – The D'Youville women's softball team won their opening game of the 2016 AMCC Softball Championship Tournament on Friday afternoon, defeating the La Roche Redhawks 6-1 at Dobson Field.

The top seeded Spartans began the scoring in the second inning as Kalie McHenry (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) reached base on an error. In the following at-bat, shortstop MacKenzie Kehlenbeck (Alabama, NY/Oakfield-Alabama) put the first two runs on the board as she belted her first homer of the postseason to straight-away center for a 2-0 lead.

Two batters later, catcher Ashley Colan (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) doubled down the left field line. With two outs, center fielder Lydia Monin (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry Charter School) then came to bat and hit a double of her own, scoring Colan and making the game 3-0.

La Roche would get a run back in the bottom of the inning, making the game 3-1. However, the Spartans would get another three-run inning in the fifth to put the game away.

Monin led off the inning with a single and she advanced to second on a Darian Evans (Brant, NY/Lake Shore) single. Left fielder Hannah Turek (Depew, NY/Lancaster) doubled two batters later to score Monin and make the game 4-1. McHenry would then single, scoring Evans and increasing the score to 5-1. With two outs, Victoria Purucker (North Tonawanda, NY/Starpoint) reached on an error, scoring Turek and bringing the game to its final score of 6-1.

McHenry was outstanding, going seven innings and allowing one earned run, striking out seven. Kehlenbeck led the team with two RBI while Colan and Monin each had two hits. Seven Spartans each had at least one hit and all six runs were scored by different players.

The women will play against the third seeded Penn State-Behrend Lions at 1pm at Dobson Field. If they win, they will advance to the championship game on Sunday.

Full schedules, scores and links can be found here.