Softball Extends Winning Streak to Nine With Sweep of Sacred Heart

(boxscore - Game One)
(boxscore - Game Two)

4/7/07 -- Game 1 - Five different Long Island University softball players recorded two hits and sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) put together another standout performance as the Blackbirds rolled to an 8-0, run-rule victory over Sacred Heart in the first game of a Northeast Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in Fairfield, Conn.

Giles recorded eight strikeouts and scattered three hits while walking one in her third complete-game shutout of the season. Junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) lead the charge offensively with a double and two RBIs.

LIU came out of the gates quickly to take a commanding lead early, tallying three runs in the first frame and three more in the second. Freshman Raylene Asman (Escondido, Calif.) had the big blow in the first with a two-run double to right center while Castillo scored two on her single to right center in the second.

In the top of the fourth, the Blackbirds tacked on two more as RBIs by senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) and junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) pushed their lead to 8-0.

From there, Giles cruised along and allowed only one Pioneer runner to reach scoring position. Sacred Heart’s best opportunity to break through came in the fourth as a double by Betsy Harvey led off the inning. A one-out single up the middle put runners on the corners but Giles struck out the next batter and fielded a comebacker to get out of the inning.

Game 2 - Junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) singled, doubled, tripled and drove in two runs to lead Long Island University (17-16, 4-0 Northeast Conference) to its ninth straight victory, an 8-1 decision, over Sacred Heart in the second game of a Northeast Conference doubleheader in Fairfield, Conn. on Saturday.

Freshman Raylene Asman (Escondido, Calif.) and junior Jessie DePippo (Westlake Village, Calif.) each added two hits with Asman contributing her third home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth.

Mejia scored the first run of the game in the first after she tripled with two outs then crossed the plate on an illegal pitch call. In the third inning, she was in the middle of the action again as she bounced a two-out, two-run single up the middle to put the Blackbirds up 3-0.

The Pioneers scored their first run of the doubleheader in the bottom of the third as a double by starting pitcher Megan Spehar plated one and cut the LIU lead to 3-1. With two runners in scoring position and only one out, freshman hurler Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) managed to strike out the next two batters to get out of the jam.

Asman’s long fly ball over the left field wall got the run back in the top of the fourth and a four-run sixth inning provided the Blackbirds with their final margin of victory. DePippo and senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) each had run-scoring doubles in the inning, with DePippo’s line drive to left center tallying two.

Porter finished with nine strikeouts and upped her record to 8-10 on the season. Spehar suffered the loss for Sacred Heart.

Long Island moves out of conference for its next game, a mid-week contest at Seton Hall on Wednesday, April 11 at 5:00 p.m.