Softball Extends Winning Streak to Five; Sweeps Doubleheader With St. John's

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

3/27/07 -- The Long Island University softball team extended its winning streak to five games with a doubleheader sweep of crosstown rival St. John’s on Tuesday afternoon at LIU Field. The Blackbirds used pitching and defense to defeat the Red Storm, 2-1, in game one then exploded for nine runs in the final three innings of an 11-2, six-inning victory in game two.

Senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) had one of LIU’s two hits in game one and went 3-for-3 with two stolen bases in the second game to improve her batting average to .441 on the season. Freshman Raylene Asman (Escondido, Calif.) added a hit and RBI in each game as the Blackbirds improved to 13-16 on the year.

After three scoreless innings in the first game, Asman came through with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to put LIU ahead, 1-0. On the same play, the Red Storm centerfielder overran the ball and then, in her attempt to cut down a Blackbird runner at home plate, threw wide and allowed a second run to score. Asman moved to third on the play but was left stranded.

St. John’s got on the board in the top of the sixth. A two-out single by Brandy Reyes scored Tami Hill, who had reached second base on a double down the left field line. But it was as close as the Red Storm would come as sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) set the next four batters down in order to close the game. Giles finished with eight strikeouts, tying her season-best performance which she set against St. John’s in the season opener. Kim Lerch suffered the loss for the Red Storm.

In the second game, LIU quickly opened the scoring with two in the first. Gillespie crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Asman, and junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) followed suit as an error by the third baseman allowed her to score.

The top of the second saw St. John’s cut the lead in half on a fielder’s choice. A grounder by pitcher Lisa Geer went to freshman Brynn Lewis (Woodinville, Wash.), who attempted to throw out a runner at home but was tardy.

Long Island would respond with multiple-run innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Three straight singles loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. A wild pitch allowed the first run of the inning to score, and a bunt base hit by junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) led to two more runs scoring. After a groundout advanced Murphy to third, junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) singled up the middle to make the score 6-1.

Two more errors by St. John’s helped LIU score three more in the fifth. Lewis added an RBI double to right center field and Murphy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, a two-run home run by junior Jessie DePippo (Westlake Village, Calif.) ended the game early and gave Long Island its third win over the Red Storm this season.

Freshman Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) allowed only one earned run over six innings to improve to 6-10 on the season.

The Blackbirds look to extend their winning streak on Saturday, March 31 as they open conference play with a doubleheader at Wagner at 1:00 p.m.