BROOKLYN, N.Y. ? The Monmouth University softball team dropped a pair of games to Long Island 1-0 and 6-1 Saturday afternoon at LIU Field in Northeast Conference play. Monmouth is now 23-12 and 9-3 in the NEC while LIU improves to 24-16 and 10-0 in the league.

The first game featured a pitcher's duel between two of the best hurlers in the NEC as LIU's Jenny Giles pitched a complete-game shutout to best MU's Kristine Sawlsville (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson), who threw a two-hitter. Sawlsville struck out six and walked only one in the game.

Candice Palumbo (Hillsborough, N.J./Hllsborough) got Monmouth's first hit of game one with a two-out double in the top of the second and appeared poised to score the game's first run after Lisa DiLeo (Commack, N.Y./Commack) blooped a single over shortstop, but LIU's Chelsea Martinson cut Palumbo down at the plate to end the third frame.

Pinch-hitter Holly Erwin got the game's scoring started for LIU with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the third inning, the Blackbirds first hit of the game, to give the hosts a 1-0 lead after three.

Lee Simonetti (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady Lourdes) led off the top of the fifth inning with a double to right field for the Blue and White, the second straight inning MU led off the frame with a two-bagger after Kara O'Dell (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) did it in the fourth, but the Hawks failed to push a run across the plate.

In the second game, LIU got on the board first again as Brittany Murphy scored on an errant Gilchrist throw as she tried to complete a double play and the Blackbirds went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Alvarez gunned down the third out of the bottom of the second at home, but the Blackbirds struck again in the frame for three runs on two Monmouth errors to take a 4-0 lead.

Jaime Jurewicz (Holland, Pa./Nazareth Academy) got the Hawks on the board when she smacked a two-out solo home run over the right-centerfield fence to cut the LIU lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth inning.  Randi Gillespie answered for LIU with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to extend the Blackbird lead to 6-1. Monmouth stranded eight runners in game of the two games of the doubleheader.

The Hawks return to action tomorrow, Sunday, April 22 when they travel to Staten Island to take on Wagner for a 12 p.m. NEC doubleheader.

Pictured: Junior Lisa DiLeo