Softball Picks Up Two Victories; Wins Stony Brook Invitational Title |
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(Boxscore
- Quinnipiac) Giles allowed only three base runners in the game and retired 14 of the first 15 hitters to come to the plate. The Florida product improved to 6-6 on the season and lowered her team-leading earned run average to 2.35. Freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) supplied the offense for the Blackbirds, going 3-for-3 on the day and breaking a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff home run over the right-center field fence. It was the first home run of her career and her three hits in the game pushed her batting average to .304 on the season. Following the home run, LIU got another run in the inning as senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) ripped a single up the middle to score Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.). Gillespie was named to the all-tournament team along with junior Celina Castillo and freshman Blaire Porter. The two runs were more than enough for Giles, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Victoria Kavitsky knocked a two-out double off the center field wall to break it up. Giles struck out the next batter to strand the runner. Senior Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) drove in the Blackbirds’ third run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. LIU (11-16) will look to extend its three-game winning streak and opens its home schedule against St. John’s in a doubleheader that begins at 4:00 p.m. Game 1 - Junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) had two hits and two RBIs as the Long Island University softball team dropped Quinnipiac, 5-2, and won its second straight game at the Stony Brook Invitational on Sunday morning. Castillo had an RBI double in the first inning to open the scoring then hit an opposite-field solo home run to put the Blackbirds up by their final margin in the seventh. Already up 1-0, Long Island looked to add a few more runs in the third. A fielder’s choice and two consecutive walks loaded the bases with two down. Freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) came up and hit a hard liner to center field that was tracked down by the Bobcats’ Maria Browne to end the rally attempt. Two innings later, LIU broke through with three runs. Junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) recorded her second hit of the day, an RBI double off the wall that plated senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.). Another pair of walks loaded the bases again for Marker, who came through with a base hit up the middle to plate a pair and push the Blackbird advantage to 4-0. Defensively, LIU was tremendous all game long and came up with a number of sparkling plays. Freshman Brynn Lewis (Woodinville, Wash.) made a spectacular back-handed stop in the fourth to get a force at second and sophomore Amanda Devan (Vista, Calif.) ran down a bullet off the bat of Browne in right center to save extra bases in the fifth. Quinnipiac’s Krista Seeman cut the LIU lead in half in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run to center. But it was as close as the Bobcats would come as freshman Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) won her second consecutive decision, striking out eight while going the distance in the circle.
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3/25/07 --
Sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) put together a dominant
performance in the circle, allowing only one hit over seven innings
while striking
out five as the Long Island University softball team clinched the
Stony Brook Invitational title with a 3-0 win over the host Sea
Wolves at University Field on Sunday afternoon.