March 31, 2007
Box Score
Game One Box
Staten Island, NY - The Wagner softball team lost a doubleheader to visiting LIU by scores of 6-3 (8 innings) and 7-1 at the Lower Athletic Field in Northeast Conference action earlier today. Both teams were playing their first league games of the season as the Seahawks slipped to 0-2 NEC and 8-12 overall. The Blackbirds meanwhile ran their winning streak to seven straight as they improved to 2-0 NEC and 15-16 overall.
Leading off the bottom of the second in the opener, sophomore Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV / Wooster) launched the first pitch she saw over the fence in left giving the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. Junior Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA / Huntington Beach) added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a RBI double into left center that scored Lazzari from all the way first.
Down 2-0, Randi Gillespie put LIU on the board in the top of the fifth with a solo home run into right. In the bottom of the sixth the Seahawks would go on top 3-1 after junior Katie Stevens (Reno, NV / Wooster) was hit by a pitch and eventually came into score on a fielder's choice grounder by grad student Joy Gallagher (Hazleton, PA / Hazleton).
LIU would then tie the game in the top of the seventh on a two out, two-run RBI single up the middle from Raylene Asman. In the eighth the Blackbirds kept the offense going scoring three more runs. Holly Erwin drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly into right before Brittany Murphy followed later in the frame with a two out, two run double into the gap in right center.
Junior Morgan Miller (Las Vegas, NV / Silverado) (3-5) was charged with the loss going the distance for Wagner. Her counterpart Jenny Giles (6-6) earned the win for LIU.
Gillespie, the 2006 NEC Player of the Year, continued to swing for the fences in the nightcap as she led off game two with a solo homer into center field. The Blackbirds would make it 2-0 in the fourth getting a two out RBI single from Murphy off the glove of a diving attempt by the leftfielder.
The Seahawks cracked the scoring column in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 2-1. Lazzari started the rally with a double into right for the first Wagner hit of the game. After a single by Batistelli, junior Margaret Gallia (Las Vegas, NV / Community College HS) brought Lazzari home on a fielder's choice RBI.
Jessie DePippo answered right back for LIU in the next inning with a two run opposite field home run into right. The Blackbirds broke the game open in the sixth inning banging out five hits and scoring three more runs as the lead grew to 7-1.
Freshman Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV / McQueen) was tagged with the loss for the Seahawks, falling to 4-5 on the year. Blaire Porter (7-10) picked up the win for LIU.
Lazzari ended the day with three hits and three runs scored for the Seahawks. On the other side, Gillespie went 5-8 in the two games, scoring five runs.
Wagner looks to end a seven game losing streak when returning to action next Friday at Sacred Heart for a NEC double header starting at 2:00 pm.
Game 1 (8) R H E
LIU 6 9 4
Wagner 3 6 3
Game 2 R H E
LIU 7 13 5
Wagner 1 6 2
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