Blue Hens Fall To Ball State, 11-3, and Georgetown, 11-6, on First Day of Radford Invitational
March 18, 2011
File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
• Ball State-Delaware Boxscore
• Georgetown-Delaware Boxscore
BOTETOURT, Va. -- The University of Delaware softball team fell to Ball State, 11-3, and Georgetown, 11-6, Friday afternoon at the Botetourt Sports Complex on the first day of the Radford Invitational.
During the Blue Hens’ first game of the day, Ball State (12-10) took the early lead by scoring a run in the top of the first inning. With one out Alicia Barkley singled to left field, and after she advanced to second on an illegal pitch by UD starting pitcher Kathleen Conway, she scored on a single to right field by Alyssa Collins. During the bottom of the frame Jenny Richards walked, Amanda Stacevicz singled to left and Gina Knutson (at right) was hit by a pitch as UD loaded the bases, but Cardinals picher Audra Sanders got Rachel Jones to pop out to shortstop to escape the jam.
Ball State added a run in the second when Taylor Rager drilled a home run to right field, but the Blue Hens (7-13) would answer right back when Brittney Noons led off the bottom of the second by drilling a homer to left, her first career longball.
The Cardinals put runners on second and third with one out in the third, but Conway buckled down to strike out Audrey Bickel and retire Amanda Carpenter on a fly out to left to keep it a 2-1 game. Delaware then took its first lead of the contest during the bottom of the frame when Stacevicz singled with two outs and Knutson followed with a two-run shot to left center, her team-leading fifth home run of the year.
However Ball State immediately answered in the fourth, as a walk to Rager and a one-out single by Alison Mercado put runners on the corners with one out. Conway then retired Lisa Rozanski on a flyout to left for the second out of the frame, but Barkley followed with an RBI single to right to drive home Hannah Zimmerman with the Cardinals’ third run of the game.
Ball State took control in the fifth when Bickel singled up the middle with one out and Carpenter followed with a double to center field. Conway then got Rager to pop out to third, but Amanda Montalto followed with a three-run homer to right as the Cardinals went on top for good, 6-3.
After Rozanski led off the sixth with a single, Anne Marie Pagano replaced Conway in the circle for Delaware. However Pagano allowed a single to Barkley, and the runners moved to second and third on a groundout. Jennifer Gilbert then hit a groundball back to Pagano, but her throw to the plate was off the mark allowing Rozanski to score. Wilczynski then singled up the middle to chase home two more runs and make it a 9-3 game.
The Cardinals added two insurance runs in the seventh when Gilbert reached on a fielder’s choice to drive home a run and Wilczynski worked a bases loaded walk to force home another.
Sanders picked up the win for Ball State after allowing three runs, one earned, on four hits in five innings of work to improve to 7-6 on the season. Conway, who fell to 1-4, was charged with seven earned runs on 11 hits in five innings, while Pagano gave up four earned runs in two innings of relief.
Georgetown (4-17) took lead during Delaware’s second game of the day with a two-run top of the first inning. With two outs Shikara Lowe singled to left, and after she stole second, Jillian Webb worked a base on balls. Jenna Stark then singled home Lowe, while Webb crossed the plate when Cara Savarese followed by reaching on an error by Blue Hen shortstop Michelle Grap.
A two-run homer by Mackensey Carter gave the Hoyas a 5-0 lead, while Webb singled home Alexandria Anttila as Georgetown took a six-run advantage through two innings. The Hoyas added single runs in the third and fourth innings, before Delaware got on the board during the bottom of the fourth. Grap led off with a walk, and after pinch runner Becky Ellis went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lara Andrews, Ellis scored when Stacevicz reached on an error by Hoyas third baseman Jordan Hansen.
In the bottom of the fifth Michelle McKinnon singled to second base with one out, and she went to third when Bertie Lake followed with a double to center. McKinnon then scored when Richards reached on an error, while Ellis followed with an RBI double to chase home Lake and make it a 9-3 game.
Georgetown got those two runs right back in the sixth, as Lowe scored on a passed ball and Savarese delivered a run-scoring double, before the Blue Hens closed the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Richards led off with an infield single, Ellis followed with a single to left, and two outs later Knutson slammed another home run to account for the final runs of the contest.
Carter went the distance for Georgetown, allowing six runs, four earned, on eight hits to improve to 4-8 on the year. Stacevicz gave up 11 runs, six earned, on 16 hits as she dropped to 4-4 on the campaign.
Delaware continues play at the invitational on Saturday when the Blue Hens face Robert Morris at 11 a.m. and Pittsburgh at 3 p.m.
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