(Game
1 boxscore)
(Game 2 boxscore)
 4/29/06 -- Senior
Jessica Busick (Milpitas, Calif.) pitched a complete game five-hitter
in the final home start of her career as she helped Long Island
University to a 4-1 victory over Mount St. Mary’s in the
second game of a collegiate softball doubleheader at LIU Field
on Saturday.
A late comeback attempt by the Blackbirds (26-20) fell short
in game one as the Mountaineers (28-20) held on for a 4-3 win.
LIU scored a run in each of the first two innings of game two
to take the early advantage. A pair of Mount miscues led to the
run in the first frame. Senior Krystal Mejia (Sylmar, Calif.)
walked and advanced to second on a passed ball. Gillespie batted
next and hit a hot shot right at Mount shortstop Kathleen Housman,
but she mishandled the ball as Mejia crossed the plate.
A sacrifice fly by senior Alissa Villanueva (Pacoima, Calif.)
scored Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) to make the score
2-0. Murphy reached on a one-out triple to right field, her first
of three hits on the afternoon.
After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and another
two on, nobody out predicament in the fourth, Busick settled
down to retire the final 12 batters she faced and pick up her
sixth conference win of the season. The California native lowered
her league ERA to 1.73 over seven starts, including five complete
games.
The Blackbirds added two insurance runs in the sixth as Murphy
belted a two-run home run, her fourth of the season, to make
the tally 4-1. Murphy ended 3-for-3 from the plate with two RBI
and a pair of runs scored.
LIU entered the bottom half of the seventh of game one down by
three runs but was able to cut into the deficit right away. Junior
Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) smacked a solo homer over
the right center field fence to lead off the inning and cut the
Blackbirds deficit to two, 4-2.
Senior Leah Glenn (Huntington Beach, Calif.), also making her
last appearance in downtown Brooklyn, beat out an infield single
to score the third run of the game and make the score, 4-3. With
the bases loaded and two down, sophomore Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke,
Va.) hit a one-hopper right at Mount pitcher Maria Lutz to end
the rally. Long Island managed only four hits over the seven
innings off of Lutz, who improved to 13-9 on the year.
Freshman Britnee Edwards (Mesa, Ariz.) also had a solo blast
in defeat, her eighth of the season. Kelli Seger led the offense
for Mount St. Mary’s with a pair of hits and two runs batted
in.
Long Island travels across town to take on St. John’s for
a doubleheader on Sunday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m.
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