Softball Sweeps Quinnipiac; Remains Tied for Top Spot in Northeast Conference |
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(Game
1 boxscore)
The Blackbirds scored the first five runs of game two and held on for a 5-3 victory. LIU improved to 29-21 overall and 15-3 in the NEC to remain tied with Wagner for the conference's top spot. Single runs in the sixth and seventh innings of game one provided insurance for Busick in the circle. The first scored on a bases loaded walk by Randi Gillespie and Britnee Edwards padded the lead with a solo home run in the seventh to account for the Blackbirds' three runs. Busick allowed only five base runners all afternoon while striking out six in the complete-game shutout. The senior hurler improved to a perfect 7-0 in conference play. In game two, the Blackbirds didn't waste any time getting on the board. They again loaded the bases with the first three batters, plating two runs in the initial stanza. Erwin's bloop single to center scored Celina Castillo (Redwood City, Calif.) while Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) followed with a bases loaded walk to score Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.). Bobcat pitcher Jessica Skaare recorded three consecutive outs, however, to again leave the bases full of Blackbirds to end the top half of the first. LIU added three runs in the third on bases loaded walks by Vanessa Mejia and Erwin while Gillespie drove in another with an infield single to make the Blackbird advantage 5-0. The Bobcats chipped away at the Blackbirds advantage, scoring runs in the fourth and fifth to pull to within three at 5-2. An RBI single by Michelle Petree, her second run-scoring hit of the game, cut the Quinnipiac deficit to two in the seventh but it would be as close as the team could get. Freshman Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) picked up her 18th victory of the year in the circle for LIU. Gillespie finished with a pair of hits in both games, upping her season batting average to a team-best .362. LIU completes its regular season schedule on Saturday, May 6 in a rescheduled conference doubleheader at Central Connecticut State.
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5/6/06 -- Junior
Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) broke a scoreless tie with
an RBI double in the fifth inning, providing
senior Jessica Busick (Milpitas, Calif.) with all the run support
she would need as Long Island University defeated Quinnipiac,
3-0, in
the first game
of a
Northeast Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon in Hamden,
Conn.