Softball Sweeps Fairleigh Dickinson; Extends Winning Streak to 14

(boxscore - Game 1)
(boxscore - Game 2)

4/20/07 -- Senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) extended her hitting streak to 17 games and sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) pitched her fourth straight shutout as the Long Island University softball team pushed its winning streak to 14 with a Northeast Conference doubleheader sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson (16-0 and 11-2) on Friday afternoon.

Gillespie went 3-for-3 in the first game, including a three-run double in the Blackbirds’ nine-run second inning that broke the game open. In the second contest, Gillespie led off with her second two-bagger of the day and her team-leading 14th of the season. On the season, the first baseman is batting .492.

In the first game, LIU (22-16, 8-0 NEC) scored two in the first and nine more in the second to take command. Junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) had the big blow in the second as she hit a towering grand slam to right center to move the Blackbirds ahead, 6-0. Gillespie drove in three with her double and sophomore Renae Beauchman (Eagle Rock, Calif.) scored a run on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

The runs were more than enough for Giles, who extended her own scoreless innings pitched streak to 28 and lowered her ERA to 1.85 on the season. The righthander struck out five while walking none over five innings.

In the second contest, Long Island scored two in the first as Gillespie and junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) each scored on wild pitches. Fairleigh Dickinson’s Courtney Haroules struggled with her control all game as she recorded 12 walks and threw nine wild pitches over four innings.

The Knights fought back to tie the score in the bottom of the first as Hope Hilman had a two-run single up the middle. But the Blackbirds scored a run in the top of the second, one in the top of the fourth and exploded for seven more in the fifth to close out the victory. Senior Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) had a two-run single up the middle and junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) drove in the final two runs of the game on a double to right center.

Freshman Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) went the distance in the circle to pickup her ninth victory of the year as she struck out seven.

The Blackbirds will take on Monmouth in a battle of the top two teams in the NEC on Saturday, April 21 in a doubleheader to begin at 1:00 p.m.