Loyola Marymount Bests Softball, 2-1

(boxscore)

2/24/07 -- The Long Island University softball team lost its second consecutive game at the Palm Springs Invitational, dropping a 2-1 decision to Loyola Marymount on Saturday morning.

Freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) had three hits for the Blackbirds while classmate Chelsea Martinson (Agoura Hills, Calif.) had a single and scored a run.

The Blackbirds opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. The first three batters each reached base and after an unsuccessful attempt to score on a passed ball, freshman Chelsea Martinson (Agoura Hills, Calif.) slid under the catcher’s tag on a fielder’s choice by senior Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) to give LIU a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth frame, the Lions tied it up on a fielder’s choice of their own. LMU looked to have taken the lead on a sacrifice fly, but the umpire ruled that the runner had left to early from third base and Long Island escaped the jam.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth, when the Lions’ Tiffany Gonzales reached on a hit by pitch to open the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved her over, sophomore hurler Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) enduced a pop up for the second out. Christine Foley followed with single to left field that scored Gonzales. Foley finished with both runs batted in for Loyola Marymount.

Giles took the loss for LIU, pitching her fifth complete game of the season and allowing only four hits while striking out one.

Long Island will play its second game of the day at 8:00 p.m. PST against nationally-ranked Fresno State.