SOFTBALL UNABLE TO PICK UP FIRST CONFERENCE WIN, DROP TWO AT WAGNER SUNDAY
March 28, 2010
SOFTBALL UNABLE TO PICK UP FIRST CONFERENCE WIN, DROP TWO AT WAGNER SUNDAY
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University softball team was unable to pick up its first Northeast Conference win this weekend as it dropped two games to Wagner College on Sunday afternoon in Staten Island. The Bulldogs fell 3-0 in the first game and dropped the nightcap by a 9-3 margin.
The Bulldogs (3-19, 0-4 NEC) picked up only seven hits total on Sunday afternoon at Wagner (7-18, 3-1 NEC) as they fell to 0-4 against NEC opponents.
Junior captain Sami Houseal (Mount Joy, Pa.) pitched all seven innings in game one Sunday, allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Houseal is still searching for her first win of the 2010 season as she fell to 0-8 on the campaign.
The Seahawks picked up one run in the bottom of the third and two in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Wagner freshman Judy Betz pitched all seven innings for the Seahawks allowing just two hits, striking out four and walking none.
Senior captain Ali Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) and freshman Talia Zizza (Reading, Mass.) each went 1-3 in opener.
The Seahawks picked up right where they left off in the second game of doubleheader action Sunday as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings of play.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board Sunday in the top of the fourth inning as they closed the margin to 7-3.
Led off by a Jennifer Jacob (Deer Park, N.Y.) walk and a Chouinard single, the Bulldogs had runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth. Sophomore Lindsay Martin (Methuen, Mass.), the next Bryant batter, hit a single to plate Jacob and was followed by a Kate Murray (Fitchburg, Mass.) double to clear the bases and give Murray her team-leading ninth and 10th RBIs of the season. Sophomore Lauren McCart (Voorhees, N.J.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Murray to third but the Bulldogs were unable to plate her as the Seahawks got out of the inning having allowed three Bryant runs.
Wagner added two more in the bottom of the sixth when Amanda Garcia hit a two-run homerun to widen the gap to its final margin of 9-3.
The Bulldogs made a valiant effort in the top of the seventh as they loaded the bases, but Betz came in to close out the action for the Seahawks, going perfect to get the final two Bulldog batters.
Chouinard was 2-4 in the second game while Murray went 2-2 at the plate with 2 RBIs.
Freshmen Kelly Cocco (Vernon, Conn.) and Brittany Hart (North Andover, Mass.) each threw three innings for the Bulldogs. Cocco, still in search of her firs t career win, picked up the loss and fell to 0-3 on the season.
The Black and Gold will return home on Wednesday, March 31 at 3 p.m. in a non-conference matchup against Albany. The Bulldogs and the Great Danes will play a mid-week doubleheader.