April 3, 2008

Stats

Staten Island, NY - The home-opening set of games this afternoon at the Lower Athletic Field proved fruitful for the Wagner College softball team (12-11-0, 2-2 NEC) as they swept a doubleheader against fellow New York City school Manhattan College of Riverdale coming from behind to win 7-5 in the first game and taking the second going away, 10-2.

The Seahawk faithful had reason to be a bit nervous in the first game as they saw their Green & White trail the Jaspers 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

That, fortunately for Wagner, was the inning they would take the lead for the first time in the game after Manhattan erased their zero on the scoreboard in their half of the third when they would put up three runs on Seahawk sophomore starting pitcher Danielle Wagoner (Temecula, CA/Temecula) on a three-run homerun over the left field fence.

In that fifth senior catcher Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) took advantage of a bases-loaded, one-out situation and turned it into three RBI for herself and three runs for her team as she put a groundball just past the reach of the Jasper third baseman which incited a wild, two-error throwing debacle on the part of Manhattan that eventually would have Batistelli standing on third with still one out.

Next up in the order was last week's "NEC Player of the Week", junior infielder Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) who went ahead and did what earned her those honors once again by singling in Batistelli for an RBI and another Seahawk score. The four-run inning put Wagner up heading into the sixth by one run, 5-4.

That count wouldn't hold up for long as, in the next half inning, the Jaspers would tie it up on run-scoring single off of Seahawk freshman hurler Heather Ochoa (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) who came in to relieve Wagoner just a batter previous. It turned out to the rookie pitcher's benefit, however, as she would get out of the inning after the run unscathed and would blank the Jaspers in the top of the seventh to earn her fifth win of the season after the Seahawks took the lead for good, 7-5, in the bottom of the sixth on freshman centerfielder Emily Pierce's (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) two RBI single up the middle that scored sophomore infielder Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) and senior rightfielder Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central).

In the second game the Seahawks used the momentum they gained in the first and - along with another solid pitching performance from Heather Ochoa - hit their way to victory.

They picked up right where they left off by getting two runs across in the bottom of the first inning on a senior shortstop Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster) RBI single and an Andrea Lazzari sacrifice.

The Jaspers, however, evened things up the very next inning on two hits and an error. The Seahawks, though, answered that bell in the bottom of the third inning and took the lead for good, putting up a three-spot up on the board on a Victoria Batistelli RBI double and a two-run Andrea Lazzari homerun over the left-centerfield fence, her team-leading fifth of the season.

After adding one more run in the bottom of the fourth-inning on Ami Iwicki's solo-blast that sailed well over the left field fence the Seahawks put the game away for good - in the process invoking the eight-run mercy rule - in the bottom of the sixth with a four-run inning.

Once again it was Victoria Batistelli - who finished the day with six RBI, three in each game - who sent the Jaspers packing back to the Bronx when she ended the game with a two RBI double that scored Katie Stevens and freshman leftfielder Hailey Corthell (Reno, NV/Reno) who made a brilliant run-saving diving catch in left a few innings prior where she caught the fly and doubled up the Jasper base runner in scoring position at second base for a crowd-pleasing bang-bang play.

Ochoa got credited for the victory, her second of the day, which moved her record over the .500-mark to 6-5 in 2008.

The Seahawks now get ready for their first NEC home weekend of the season. They'll host doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. First up is Robert Morris on Saturday, first pitch is slated for 1 p.m.