No. 12 Softball Explodes For Two Wins at Rebel Spring Games
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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (Mar. 10, 2014) - The No. 12 LIU Post softball team swept a pair of contests at the Rebel Spring Games Monday, held at the Auburndale Sports Complex in Winter Haven, Fla. The Pioneers beat Northern State, 8-0, and followed with a 4-2 win over Hillsdale.
The Pioneers' (2-2) bats awoke in the opener as they erupted for eight runs on 10 hits in the six-inning game. Senior
Liz Weber (Brightwaters, N.Y.) picked up her first win of the year, tossing a complete-game no-hitter, while fanning four. She also had a great defense behind her. Freshman
Melissa Peet (Monroe, Conn.) made a diving catch on a screaming line drive in the fourth inning. In the next frame, senior
Alexis Gonzalez (Hauppauge, N.Y.) laid out for a dying line drive tailing into shallow right-center and just barely made the catch.
The green and gold got the scoring going in the second when freshman
Kayla McCoy (Smithtown, N.Y.) drew a bases-loaded walk to plate sophomore
Paige Swantek (Commack, N.Y.). Another two runs came in the third via a Gonzalez homer to left-center field with junior
Catherine Havens (Eastport, N.Y.) aboard.
Back-to-back triples in the fourth inning off the bats of senior
Nicole Hagenah (Commack, N.Y.) and junior
Aly Dzierzynski (Deer Park, N.Y.) brought home another two Pioneers, before LIU Post tacked on two more in the sixth to end the game.
In the nightcap, freshman
Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) took to the circle for her first collegiate start.
Martin's squad gave her early run support as she had a 1-0 lead before she saw the field. In the top of the first, Weber crossed the plate on a mishandled ground ball. The very next inning, Weber drove a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Peet to double the Pioneers' lead (2-0). With the bases loaded two batters later, Gonzalez drilled a double to right-center, scoring sophomore
Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.) and junior
Samantha Miller (East Meadow, N.Y.).
In the fifth inning, Hillsdale cut the lead in half when Bekah Kastning found the gap in left-center for a double, while teammate's Melissa Felkey and Ainsley Ellison scored.
Martin earned the win in the decision, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and one walk. She fanned three batters as well.
On the day, Dzierzynski swatted four hits in eight at-bats, including a double and triple, along with two RBIs. Palmeri, Gonzalez, and Havens each finished with three hits. Gonzalez added four RBIs and three runs scored.
The Pioneers are back in action Wednesday (Mar. 12) at the Rebel Spring Games, where they will face Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m. clash against fifth-ranked Augustana (S.D.).