Blackbirds Clinch Regular Season NEC Title with Sweep at Robert Morris

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

4/30/07 -- The Long Island University softball team broke out of their recent hitting slump with 44 hits over two games as it swept a Northeast Conference doubleheader with Robert Morris, 19-7 in the first game and 7-1 in the second, in Moon Township, Pa. on Monday afternoon.

With the two wins, the Blackbirds (30-19, 16-2 NEC) secure their seventh regular season NEC championship and earn the right to host the upcoming Northeast Conference tournament on May 11-12.

In the first game, junior Jessie DePippo (Westlake Village, Calif.) continued her recent power surge with two home runs and seven RBIs as Long Island broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth with seven runs and continued for eight more in the seventh. Freshman Mariesha Marker (Keizer, Ore.) had a career-high five hits in the game and scored two runs while senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.), junior Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) had three hits apiece.

Robert Morris opened the second game with a run in the first game but Gillespie tied the game up with her eighth home run of the season. The solo shot also tied the senior first baseman for the top spot on the all-time career list with Briana Mathieson with 27.

The Blackbirds opened the game up with three runs in the both the fifth and sixth innings. Senior Holly Erwin (Riverside, Calif.) had three RBIs in the span, including a two-run double down the left field line in the sixth.

Sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) scattered eight hits and while allowing only one earned run in a complete-game victory in the second game. Freshman Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) picked up the win in relief in the opening game, going 5 1/3 while striking out six.