Softball Extends Winning Streak to Seven; Sweeps Doubleheader at Wagner

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

3/31/07 -- The Long Island University softball team broke open a close contest with a combined five runs in the fifth and sixth innings en route to a 7-1 win over Wagner in game two of a Northeast Conference softball doubleheader in Staten Island, N.Y. on Saturday. The victory was the second of the day for LIU and extends the team’s winning streak to seven games.

Senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) had four hits in the game and
narrowly missed hitting for the cycle. The first baseman smashed her
fourth home run of the season to lead off the game, then doubled in the
second, singled in the fourth and hit a gapper in the sixth inning that
went for another double. She currently leads the team with a .446
batting average.

The Blackbirds (15-16, 2-0 NEC) built to their 1-0 lead in the fourth inning as an RBI single by junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) scored pinch runner Amanda Devan (Vista, Calif.). The Seahawks would come right back in the bottom half as a fielder’s choice by Margaret Gallia scored Andrea Lazzari, who had reached on a double to right.

In the fifth, LIU again used the long ball as junior Jessie DePippo (Westlake, Calif.) sent a towering drive over the right field fence with a runner on and extended the Blackbirds’ lead to 4-1.

Gillespie and Murphy were each in the thick of Long Island’s three-run sixth. The former led off the frame with her second double of the game and 10th of the season, while Murphy reached on her third hit of the game and sixth of the doubleheader. Junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) drove in Gillespie with an infield single to shortstop and after two at-bats resulted in outs, back-to-back RBI singles by freshmen Chelsea Martinson (Agoura Hills, Calif.) and Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) pushed the Long Island lead to 7-1.

In the circle, freshman Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) was in control
throughout, striking out nine Seahawks while picking up her third
straight victory. Long Island will continue its conference schedule
with a road doubleheader at Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday, April 6 at
3:00 p.m.

Game 1 -- After being down by two runs on two separate occasions, the
Long Island University softball team battled back for a pair of runs
with two outs in the seventh inning and exploded for three more in the
eighth to post a 6-3 victory over Wagner in the first game of a
Northeast Conference doubleheader on Saturday in Staten Island, N.Y.

With two down in the seventh and runners on second and third, freshman
Raylene Asman (Escondido, Calif.) came through in the clutch with a
single up the middle that scored both runners and tied the game. In
the eighth inning, the Blackbirds (14-16, 1-0 NEC) had each of their
first two batters reach base as a walk and error put runners on first
and third with no outs. A stolen base by freshman Chelsea Martinson
(Agoura Hills, Calif.) put two in scoring position and after a pop out,
senior Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) lifted a fly ball to right
field. Pinch runner Andrea Diaz (Staten Island, N.Y.) tagged and slid
in under the tag of the catcher to give Long Island its first lead of
the day.

Junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) had the big blow of the
eighth with a two-run double to right center that gave the Blackbirds
their final margin of victory. Murphy finished the contest with three
hits and a run scored while Gillespie scored three runs and hit her
third home run of the season, an opposite field shot in the fifth.

Wagner built a two-run lead with runs in the second and fourth innings.
Andrea Lazzari broke a scoreless tie with a solo home run to left
field in the second, and scored the second run on an RBI double by
Victoria Batistelli.

Gillespie’s home run in the fifth cut the Seahawks lead to 2-1, but Wagner again extended its lead to two with a run in the bottom of the sixth. A fielder’s choice with the bases loaded allowed a run to score and after a fielding error loaded the bases again, sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) got Iwicki to fly out to center to end the inning.

Giles got the win and improved to 8-6 on the season by pitching eight
innings and striking out four while walking none.