April 12, 2012

Box Score

(By Nikki Philpot)

Merion Station, Pa. - The Saint Joseph's softball team (15-20) had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 7-4 loss to Drexel on Thursday afternoon at the SJU Softball Field.

Freshman Nicole Palase went 3-for-3 with a walk and junior Dana Parks went 2-for-4 to combine for five of Saint Joseph's seven hits. Freshmen Melissa Ruf and Lauren Rendon added one hit each for the Hawks while junior Rochelle Christman recorded a pair of walks and scored Saint Joseph's only run.

The Hawks began the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as Christman walked and then advanced to third on a single to right field by Palase. Sophomore Maria Ficca then reached on an error after hitting a hard ground ball to first that allowed Christman to score the first run of the ball game.

Drexel responded with four runs on four hits in the top half of the fourth, including a three-run blast to left field by Jenn Reading, as the Dragons jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

Drexel tacked on three more runs in the sixth on a three-run shot to left-center by Jill Popek to extend the score, 7-1.

The Hawks sparked a comeback in the home half of the seventh as senior Alaina Loguidice, who had reached on a walk, scored on a bases-loaded walk earned by senior Bernadette Moran. With the bases still full of Hawks, Rendon singled to center to plate Parks to bring Saint Joseph's to within four runs, 7-3. Another walk, this time earned by Palase, allowed Ruf, who had reached on a single to center, to score, closing the deficit to 7-4. Down three runs with two outs and the bases loaded, Saint Joseph's sophomore Morgan Earling drove a shot to the right-centerfield gap that was snagged by Drexel to end the threat and the game as the Hawks fell to the Dragons, 7-4.

Drexel (18-16) threatened to score with a one-out triple in the top of the third, but junior Taryn Ashway got the next two Dragons to groundout as Saint Joseph's escaped from the inning unscathed.

In the bottom of the third, Parks stole second base to record the 34th steal of her career. With the stolen base, Parks passed former teammate Laura Cardone (2008-11) to move into second place on SJU's all time list for career steals.

Ashway (9-10) took the loss in seven innings of work, allowing seven runs on 11 hits.

The Hawks begin an eight-game roadstand on April 15 with an Atlantic 10 conference doubleheader at Dayton. Game time is scheduled for 11:00am.