Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 HAMDEN, CT –
Amanda Riley (Tracy, CA/John C. Kimball) pitched 11.1 scoreless innings and struck out 17 batters as the Monmouth University softball team swept Quinnipiac on the road, 3-0 (9 inn.) and 8-3, Saturday afternoon.
Jill Freese (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) homered to the opposite field to break a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth of Game 1, before the Hawks (17-12, 6-0 MAAC) used a pair of four-run frames early in Game 2 to secure the sweep over the Bobcats (12-17, 0-2 MAAC).
Rachel Shotzbarger (Saugus, CA/Saugus) and
Emma Hill (Rae, MO/King City [Highland C.C.]) had four hits apiece. Shotzbarger had two doubles, an RBI and a run scored while Hill scored twice.
Nicole Wieczorek (Oakdale, NY/Connetquot) hit her fifth home run of the year and doubled twice to drive in two and score twice.
Katie Baron (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) led six Hawks with two hits apiece, homering, driving in three and scoring twice.
Justene Reyes (Carson, CA/Warren),
Chloe Howerth (Roscoe, IL/Hononegah),
Ashalynn Umiamaka (Kapolei, HI/Kapolei [Eastern Arizona]), Freese and
Brooke Redmond (Cooksville, MD/Glenelg) also had two hits apiece. Howerth hit a two-run double, while Redmond also drove in two.
Riley went 8.2 innings in the Game 1 win, striking out a career-high 13 batters. She also hurled 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to close out Game 2, finishing the day with 11.1 scoreless frames, scattering seven hits and five walks, while fanning 17. She's now hurled 27.0 consecutive scoreless innings covering six games since March 30.
Sydney Underhill (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) got the final out in Game 1 to pick up her second save of the year, before earning the Game 2 victory, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. She struck out four.
After eight scoreless innings in Game 1, Freese deposited Sydney Robey's low and away offering over the right-field fence for an opposite-field solo home run. After Wieczorek followed with a double, Baron sent a two-run blast over the left-field fence for a two-run home run and a 3-0 Monmouth lead. The Bobcats threatened on multiple occasions in the bottom of the inning, but Freese erased a leadoff walk by picking the runner off first, before a walk and an infield single brought the tying run to the plate. Underhill replaced Riley in the circle and needed just two pitches to induce a groundout and pick up the save.
The Hawks wasted no time getting on the board in Game 2, plating four in the first and four more in the third. Hill led off with a single, moved to second on a Howerth groundout and scored on a Shotzbarger single to left center. A Reyes walk and Umiamaka single loaded the bases before the Bobcats recorded the second out. But Wieczorek worked back from a 1-2 count to draw a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 Monmouth. Redmond punctuated the inning with a two-run single down the left-field line.
Monmouth did more two-out damage in the third, scoring all four of their runs with two away. Wieczorek got things going, pummeling a no-doubter to left center for a solo home run. Redmond singled, moved two bases on a single wild pitch and scored on Baron's single to right. Hill followed with a single and two runs scored on Howerth's double to right to push the Monmouth lead to 8-0.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Quinnipiac in the bottom of the third, before a third walk plated the Bobcats' first run of the day. But Underhill avoided further damage with a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. Quinnipiac continued to chip away with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to make it an 8-2 Monmouth advantage. The Bobcats scored another run in the fifth and threatened for more until Riley replaced Underhill in the circle and got a strikeout. On the play, Redmond picked off a runner from third to end the inning, leaving Monmouth on top, 8-3, after five. The Bobcats loaded the bases in the sixth and put two runners into scoring position in the seventh, but both times, Riley buckled down for the final out.
The Hawks return to action tomorrow at noon, when they travel to Fairfield for a rematch of the 2015 MAAC Championship Final Round.
