Softball Defeats George Mason, 4-1, But Fall to South Florida |
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(George
Mason boxscore) 3/13/07 -- Freshman hurler Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) recorded her second victory of the season, a complete game four-hitter, as the Long Island University softball team defeated George Mason, 4-1, in the first game of the USF Spring Break Tournament at the USF Softball Complex on Tuesday afternoon. Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) went 3-for-3 with two runs scored for the Blackbirds, who broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a pair of runs and tacked on two more in the seventh to take command of the contest. Junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) drove in the first run of the game on an opposite-field double that scored Gillespie. After a groundout to third, sophomore Renae Beauchman (Eagle Rock, Calif.) drove a single through the right side to give Long Island a 2-0 lead. The two runs were all the run support Porter would need as she worked through some control problems and four walks in the game. The Patriots threatened to get back into the game in the bottom half of the sixth, loading the bases on a hit, error and walk with just one out. The Washington native was up to the task, however, and struck out the next batter and enduced a ground ball to Castillo for the force out at second base to end the inning. In the seventh, freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) tallied her second hit of the day, a line drive to left field, and after a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, Gillespie drilled a double off the left-center field wall to score the Blackbirds’third run of the game. After a single and walk loaded the bases, Castillo hit a fly ball to center field that scored Gillespie and put LIU up 4-0. Porter’s shutout bid was denied in the seventh, as with two outs her throwing error to first base allowed George Mason to score their only run. In the nightcap, the Long Island University softball team fell behind early, had a four-run fourth inning to take the lead but ultimately lost in eight innings to South Florida, 6-5, in the second game of the USF Spring Break Tournament in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday afternoon. The Blackbirds pounded out a season-high 13 hits, including three by junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.). Four other Long Island players had two hits apiece. A leadoff double by Murphy helped produce the first run of the
game in South Florida came back with two runs in the first and two more in the second to take a 4-1 lead through two. The damage could have been worse, but starter Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) worked out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the third to keep the margin at three. In the top of the fifth, Long Island broke out for four runs, all with two outs, to take the lead. Murphy started off the two-out rally with a single up the middle and Gillespie continued the trend with a single of her own to put runners on first and third. A wild pitch scored Murphy to cut the deficit to 4-2 and junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) brought the Blackbirds even closer with a line-drive to left that went over the left fielder’s glove for a double. Gillespie scored on the play to put bring LIU within one. DePippo walked as the next batter and junior Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) followed with a single to right field that tied the game at 4-4. A throwing error on the right fielder advanced DePippo to third and Castillo to second. Long Island took the lead on the next play as freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) bunted for a base hit and drove in DePippo. The lead would hold until the bottom of the sixth, as a two-out RBI single by Kit Dunbar evaded a lunging effort by Castillo and tied the game at 5-5. After a scoreless seventh, the Blackbirds failed to convert on the international tiebreaking rule that placed a runner on second to begin the eighth inning. Freshman Chelsea Martinson (Agoura Hills, Calif.) successfully sacrificed the runner over to third, but Long Island could not score for the second consecutive game in extra frames. The Bulls would score an unearned
run in the bottom half of the eighth
to take the game. JoJo Medina came off the bench to drive in
the
game-winning run on a two-hopper that bounced through the middle
of the LIU continues play at the USF Spring Break Tournament on Wednesday,
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