April 26, 2008
Box Score
Brooklyn, NY - Long Island University defeated Wagner 10-3 in game one of a Northeast Conference doubleheader before taking the night-cap 3-0 at LIU Field. The Blackbirds clinched its third consecutive NEC regular-season title and will host the NEC Tournament (May 9-10).
Wagner currently resides in fourth place in the race for the NEC Tournament with a 10-8 record (26-19 overall). SFPA (9-5) is one game up on Wagner in third place while Sacred Heart (8-8) and Monmouth (7-7) are tied for fifth. Monmouth will host Quinnipiac tomorrow while Saint Francis (PA) heads to Sacred Heart. The Red Flash will then host Monmouth May 3.
LIU opened the scoring in the third inning of game one. With two out and a runner on, back-to-back ground-rule doubles by Jessie DePippo and Celina Castillo gave the Blackbirds a 2-0 lead.
Wagner would cut into the lead the following inning as a bloop single by senior Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA / Huntington Beach) plated classmate Katie Stevens (Reno, NV / Wooster) to cut LIU's advantage to 2-1. LIU would respond with a five-run fifth to go in front 7-1.
The Green & White would cut it to 7-3 with two runs in the sixth. Junior Jaclyn Vanore's (Palisades Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) RBI ground out plated Stevens, who was plunked leading off the frame. Senior Margaret Gallia (Las Vegas, NV / Community College HS) doubled home junior Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV / Wooster), who had doubled earlier in the inning.
LIU tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to win 10-3.
Sophomore Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV / McQueen) went 4.0 innings, yielding seven runs, five earned, in falling to 8-6.
Blaire Porter (16-8) picked up the victory in the circle for LIU, going 7.0 innings while allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out five.
The second contest of the twinbill saw Wagner gain the game's first opportunity to score in the second. With two down, Senior Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdon Central) lined a double to the gap in left-center field. LIU's Brittany Murphy cut the ball off short of the fence, hit Castillo on the cut and Castillo's relay home nabbed Gallia at the plate to end the inning.
In the third, the Seahawks again had a prime opportunity to take the lead but were thwarted by a stellar defensive effort by Murphy. Wagner loaded the bases with nobody out courtesy of a double, error and hit-by-pitch. Stevens, who was hitting .411 to begin the day, sent a liner to right-center that Murphy raced down and made a shoestring catch on, surprising the Seahawk runners who had all left their previously-occupied base. Murphy threw the ball to second, but freshman Emily Pierce (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) had already scampered back to the base. The shortstop Castillo alertly fired the ball over to Vanessa Mejia at first, who stepped on first base to double up freshman Hailey Corthell (Reno, NV). Mejia, in turn, threw across the diamond to third for the not-so-routine 8-6-3-5 triple play.
The play clearly shifted momentum, as LIU took full advantage and scored in the following half inning on a sacrifice fly before tacking on two more in the fourth.
Jenny Giles (14-7) picked up the win in game two, going 4 1/3 innings while scattering six hits. Porter came in for the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit as she picked up her second save of the season. Sophomore Danielle Wagoner (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley) yielded three runs, two earned, while striking out two, against zero walks, over 6.0 innings of work in falling to 9-5.
