Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"April 12, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
April
12, 2002
|
| Army freshman firstbaseman Lisa Huntington watches her three-run blast sail over the fence Sunday during Army’s 10-3 win over Lafayette. |
Lafayette threw a scare at Army in both games Sunday, closing to within two runs in game one and rallying to tie in the nightcap, but the Black Knights prevailed with late runs in both for one-sided 10-3 and 11-2 decisions in completing their four-game series sweep of the Leopards in Patriot League softball action.
The Black Knights, who stand atop the league standings with a perfect 8-0 mark and 20-9-1 overall, jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings in the opener before Lafayette cut their advantage to 5-3 with a pair of home runs in the fifth to chase senior starter Shauna Evans. Evans had a nifty one-hitter going along with seven strikeouts before giving up a solo blast to leadoff hitter Mara Shainheit and a two-run homer to Becky Foley with two outs.
Sophomore Ashlie Christian scattered two hits over the final 2.1 innings, walking two and striking out four while picking up her first save of the season.
After Jackie Fitzgerald (2-7) kept Army off the scoreboard in its next at bat in stranding runners at second and third, the Black Knights got to her in the sixth inning touching her for three of their five runs. Freshman Lisa Huntington sparked that frame in poking her fourth home run of the season with two on off reliever Amy Magos.
Senior Bianca Brito, who was 2-for-4 and scored twice, knocked in the first run with a double to right and she scored on freshman Lindsay March’s (2-for-3) single to left in forcing out Fitzgerald. March and senior team captain Nicki Robbins, who was walked in all four times at the plate, scored on Huntington’s home run over the left field fence.
Army scored single runs in its first two at bats in the nightcap, but Lafayette (2-17, 0-8) tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the third and fourth innings, in the process knocking out freshman starter Leigh Harrell. Bailey Stripling (2-1) did not yield a hit or a walk and struck out two of the eight batters she faced over the final 2.2 innings in the circle to pick up the win in relief.
The Black Knights snapped that tie after capitalizing on an unearned run in the fifth inning when Robbins, who was walked and moved to second on a fielder’s choice, scored on an error by the first baseman for a 3-2 lead. Army then put the game out of reach behind an eight-run sixth inning flurry.
Senior Melissa Parrish’s RBI single knocked in the first run with March’s two-run single delivering two more to knock out Moschberger. After Robbins drew a walk off reliever Danielle Fecso, Huntington singled home two more with freshman pinch-hitter Nicole Luvera poking a two-run homer which forced the game to be called on the eight-run mercy rule.
The Black Knights collected 14 hits in the second game with Brito and Anne McClain each recording three along with two each by March, Huntington and Parrish. Brito was 5-for-8 with four runs and two RBIs in the doubleheader. Parrish and March both collected four hits with March knocking in three runs and scoring twice while Parrish crossed once and drove in two others.
