April 19, 2008
Stats
Staten Island, NY - Junior infielder Andrea Lazzari's (Reno, NV/Wooster) sixth inning grand slam broke a four all tie and enabled the Seahawks to take the first game of a Northeast Conference doubleheader from behind, 8-4, over Fairleigh Dickinson University (8-21, 2-8 NEC) on "Senior Day" at the Lower Athletic Field this afternoon. In the second game the Seahawks (20-15, 9-5 NEC) would cruise to victory in big-hitting fashion, 12-4.
Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning the Seahawks answered the bell and hit the visiting Knights up for six runs on five hits to take a comfortable 8-4 lead they would keep for the victory.
The biggest of those hits in that definitive inning came off the bat of Andrea Lazzari - the hot-hitting Green & White infielder who now leads the team and the entire NEC in RBI with 43 as well as homeruns with eight - with the bases loaded and two outs.
In that at bat the Reno native blasted a pitch high and outside over the left-centerfield wall for a four-RBI grand slam that crushed the opposition's momentum after they'd held a two-run lead since the top of the second inning.
One of the four Seahawk seniors honored in a ceremony prior to the game, Margaret Gallia (Las Vegas, NV/Community College HS), started the inning off with a clutch pinch-hit single to left field. After sophomore infielder Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) doubled to right field putting runners on second and third, freshman catcher Jamie El-Aazami (Houston, TX/Cypress Hills) scored on a wild pitch after she pinch-ran for Gallia. The next batter, freshman centerfielder Emily Pierce (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista), then singled through the left side driving in Eshelman to tie the game and set the scene for Lazzari's dramatics two batters later.
Sophomore starting pitcher Danielle Wagoner (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley) earned the victory for Wagner going the distance giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out one and walking just one. She improved to a team-best 7-3 on the year.
In the second game the Seahawks wouldn't get off to such a slow offensive start.
In the bottom of the first stanza they countered a three-run Knight inning with one of their own when they would collect two hits and score on two wild pitches and a walk.
In the following five innings the Green & White would score at least one run in each, the biggest of which was a three-run fifth inning.
In that turn at bat the Seahawks would get their scoring from their rookies. First it was Emily Pierce with an RBI single through the left side then, directly following, it was Hailey Corthell (Reno, NV/Reno) -- who hit her second career homerun on a solo job in the first game - locating the gap in right centerfield for a two-RBI double.
In the ensuing inning Wagner shut the door and excercised the eight-run mercy rule when they would take the necessary lead on a Kate Eshelman RBI single to the shortstop.
Eshelman, the Nevada sophomore, not only closed the deal on the Knights' rally hopes with the bat but also with her arm as she earned her sixth victory of the year after coming in for senior starter Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) with nobody out in the second.
In five full innings she gave up only two hits and no earned runs while walking only one. She improved to 6-4 on the year.
The Seahawks now look to get some rest and come right back tomorrow at noon for another NEC doubleheader against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart at the Lower Athletic Field.
