May 10, 2008

Stats

Brooklyn, NY - Despite getting nine hits off of Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year Blaire Porter of Long Island University the Wagner College softball team dropped the opening round of the NEC Tournament, 6-2, to the top-seeded Blackbirds. They now look to bounce back and remain alive in the double-elimination tournament when they take on the loser of the second game of the day between Robert Morris and Saint Francis (PA) at 3 p.m. today.

In this morning's loss nothing was doing for either team until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Blackbirds (32-15) etched across a pair of runs on two fielding errors by the Seahawks (27-21).

Wagner, however, would get even two innings later on back-to-back run-scoring doubles, one off the bat of junior infielder and NEC Player of the Year Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) and the second from senior All-NEC catcher Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach).

Unfortunately for the Seahawks the Blackbirds would take the lead for good in the following half-inning, putting across four runs on four hits including a two-out, pinch-hit three-run homerun that made the score 6-2 in their favor.

Porter shut the door in the top of the seventh, vanquishing any Wagner rally by getting the next two outs after sophomore pitcher Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) hit a one-out ground-rule double to left field.

Eshelman also had a solid outing in the circle despite taking the loss (9-8). In six innings she gave up only four earned runs while striking out three and walking no one.

All-NEC senior shortstop Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster) and freshman centerfielder Emily Pierce also had a solid outing on the diamond with both of them joining Lazzari with a pair of hits apiece for the game.