March 15, 2008
Stats
Orlando, FL - Seniors Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach), Margaret Gallia (Las Vegas, NV/Community College HS) and Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster) each drove in three runs to muscle a fervent offensive surge by the Wagner Seahawks in besting the University of Rhode Island (1-11) this afternoon in a contest at the Rebel Games, 15-6. In the second game of the Floridian double-dip action they would lose to the Bulldogs of Yale, 14-4 in six innings.
In the first matchup against the Rams the story largely rested on what the Green & White did at the plate as they would go onto to rack up 20 hits.
It all started in the first inning when Stevens drove in sophomore Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) with a triple to left field for the first of her three RBI.
Then, in the following stanza, the Seahawks put up a four spot and then once again in third when they went one better and put up five runs, giving them a 10-2 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
In that inning, it was another senior, this time rightfielder Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) who got in the act and smoked a double to left field driving in both runners on base. Then, after freshman third baseman Jamie El-Aazami (Houston, TX/Cypress Hills) drove in a run with a base hit, Victoria Batistelli roped a single to left to bring in two more green jerseys across home plate.
Rhode Island's bats, which were stifled for much of the beginning of the game by Wagner sophomore starting pitcher Danielle Wagoner (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley), awoke in their home half of the fourth inning when they put together a four-run rally to cut the Wagner lead to 11-4 going into the top half of the fifth inning.
The Seahawks answered right back, however, by scoring two runs in that top of the fifth inning on two hits including a two-RBI double by designated player Margaret Gallia.
They tacked on two more in the top of the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Stevens and Batistelli and Wagoner closed the door to any Rhode Island hope of tying it back up when she got their centerfielder Stefani Poedubicky to ground into a fielder's choice.
The Californian hurler got the win, evening her record to 1-1 on the 2008 season.
She gave up four earned runs on four hits, striking out three and walking three.
In the second game, unfortunately, it was the opposition who exploded on the offensive.
Yale (6-4) got busy early in the contest as they touched up freshman hurler Heather Ochoa (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) for four runs on one hit, an error, and one batter being hit by a pitch.
The Ivy Leaguers put up another four runs in the third when they got a three-run homer and a sacrifice fly to put them in a commanding 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
Junior pitcher Kasey Kraft (Redding, CA/Foothill) came into relieve Ochoa in the middle of that inning, but she, unfortunately, would fare no better on the mound. The very next inning walks proved to be a problem as one drove in a run for the Bulldogs as they would leave the inning with two more on the scoreboard making the count 10-0 with the bottom of the fifth looming for the Seahawks to make something happen.
They would, as junior infielder Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) hit a three-run blast driving in seniors Stevens and Batistelli. Junior leftfielder Jaclyn Vanore (Palisades Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) followed her right up and hit a solo-homerun of her own to left center cutting the Seahawk deficit to six, 10-4 with six outs left to tie it up.
That, however, wouldn't happen as Yale put up another three runs in their half of the sixth inning and Wagner would go scoreless in their bottom half - their last shot - before the last inning, the seventh, was called due to run differential.
The Seahawks now get ready for another double dip Monday morning when they'll take on Rider and Dayton at 9 and 11 a.m. respectively.
