April 20, 2008
Stats
Staten Island, NY - For the second consecutive day Wagner junior infielder Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) drove in six runs in a doubleheader and in doing so tied the single-season mark set by teammate Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) a year ago. Her three RBI were enough to push the Seahawks ahead in the first game 3-0 as sophomore Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) threw a seven-hit shutout gem, but not enough in the second game as they would go on to fall in heartbreaking fashion, 8-7, thus ending their nine-game winning streak.
Ahead 4-1 heading into the visitors' half of the sixth inning the Seahawks (23-16, 10-6 NEC) looked poised and destined to take the sweep from the Pioneers and push themselves further into comfortable playoff position on the heels of a Lazzari two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning.
However that notion wouldn't hold as the Pioneers put up a devastating seven-run spot in that fateful inning after knocking out Eshelman - who started both games on the day - with back-to-back base hits to lead it off. Sophomore Danielle Wagoner (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley) came in on relief duty but gave up a base hit to load things up and then a crushing grand slam homerun that just stayed fair to the right of the leftfield foul pole. Freshman hurler Heather Ochoa was the third pitcher to be used in the inning and eventually got out of things with the Seahawks staring down a four-run deficit with six outs to work with.
After nothing came across for the Green & White the next half-inning the Pioneers were looking to get three outs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win and the split on the day ahead, still, with an 8-4 lead.
However, the Seahawks wouldn't make it that easy.
Freshman centerfielder Emily Pierce (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) lead things off with a base hit and fellow rookie outfielder Hailey Corthell (Reno, NV/Reno) joined her on the base paths in the next at bat after getting hit by a pitch. Senior shortstop Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster) then doubled down the left field line to drive in the first run and cut the four-run lead down to three, 8-5.
Lazzari kept the scoring going getting credit for the RBI on a sacrifice groundout to the second baseman that advanced the runners and pushed Corthell across the plate. Third baseman Victoria Batistelli hit a two-out double into the right-centerfield gap to drive in the third run of the game to get the Seahawks within a run, 8-7, with senior rightfielder Ami Iwicki on deck.
Unfortunately for them, however, three runs would be all they would get in the last of the seventh as Iwicki took a third strike and the Pioneers narrowly escaped with a victory to end the seesaw scoring affair at the Lower Athletic Field to the tune of 8-7.
In 12 innings combined over the course of the doubleheader Kate Eshelman surrendered only two earned runs and 12 hits while striking out 11 and walking only one. Her fourth shutout-victory on the year in the first game pushes her record to 7-4 while Wagoner gets pegged with the loss in the second game and, also, is now 7-4.
As for the record books, Seahawk history was made if not duplicated this afternoon when Andrea Lazzari equaled Victoria Batistelli's single-season RBI mark of 49 with the six runs she drove in on the day. The Nevada junior has done nothing but turn up the juice on her vicious assault of opposing pitchers this season, putting up gaudy numbers once again for this week with 12 RBI, two homeruns, and a .476 batting average in the six games played.
As for playoff implications, Wagner now sits in a three-way tie for two spots (third and the fourth and final berth in the conference) with both Saint Francis (PA) and Sacred Heart with five losses all around. However, both SFPA and Sacred Heart have four games left to play next weekend while Wagner only has a doubleheader remaining at first-place Long Island University (13-1) next Saturday afternoon - so potential jockeying between spots is still possible.
