Philadelphia, PA (4/5/01) - Nothing like being
at home on the road. That is exactly the feeling
the Drexel softball team had on Thursday
afternoon when it took on host St. Joseph's at
its own Drexel Field. The result a Dragon sweep
of the Hawks, 4-1 & 2-1.
Hitting, which has been a problem all season for
SJU, was not the problem for the Hawks as it
has been all season. SJU belted 18 hits in the
twinbill, nine in each game. It was key hitting
that was missing as the Hawks stranded 21 baserunners on the day,
leaving the bases loaded once in the opener. SJU also left two runners
on base in five innings in the 2-1.
In the opener, the Dragons jumped all over starter
Brandie Adams,
scoring three runs in the first two innings off six hits. Adams, who came
into the contest with a 0.46 ERA, did not help her own cause in the
field. With a runner on first and no one out in the second, she went to
second on a sacrifice by Debbie Botke, and threw the ball into center
field. Adams then tried to get Winter Boehm, who led off the inning with
a single, out at third on a grounder off the bat of Rachel Levinson, but
her throw was in the dirt, loading the bases. A two-run, two-out single by
shortsop Cassie Snow made the score 3-0.
Adams (4-5) settled down after the second, allowing no more runs. She
was relieved by senior Kristin Doris, who allowed two hits and one run
over the final two innings.
SJU scored its lone run in the bottom of the third. Heather Chapman
singled with one out and then was driven home by a
Missy Rhoades'
double.
Game Two saw freshman
Dana Travis (5-5) turn in another fine
performance, allowing just two runs off six hits while striking out four.
Drexel manufactured the first run as Allison Good, who threw out two
runners from center field in the two games, singled with one out. She
then stole second. Snow singled her to third and then proceeded to
steal second as well. Left fielder Laura Tynio, the winning pitcher in
game one (6-5 record), put down a perfect squeeze bunt scoring Good.
In the sixth, the Dragons made it 2-0. Levinson, Good and Snow opened
the inning with three straight singles to load the bases. Travis then
struck out Tynio, but DU pitcher Lindsay Andrus helped her cause with
a sacrifice fly to left to score the much-needed insurance run. Teresa
Andreani then threw out Good attempting to steal third to end the inning.
An RBI single by Chapman scored Rhoades with the Hawks lone run in
the sixth. But SJU stranded Gail Treskot (single) on third in that inning
with the potential tying run.
Andrus walked
Kristin Nau to start the seventh and Andrus then gave
way to Tynio. After another walk to Andreani made it first and second
with no one out, Tynio struck out SJU's leading hitter Lindsey
McNamara, Rhoades and Doris to end the game.
Adams, Andreani and Treskot all recorded three hits on the day for the
Hawks while Snow went 5-for-7 with two RBI.
SJU (11-11-1) will travel to Temple this weekend for an A-10 series at
Temple Stadium. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and a
single game on Sunday, both days starting at noon.
Drexel ups its record to 17-13.