Delaware's Game Set For Sunday vs. Nicholls State Cancelled Due to Rain; Blue Hens Named Champions of Jimmy John’s Lion Classic
February 10, 2013
HAMMOND, La. -- The University of Delaware softball team’s game scheduled for Sunday against Nicholls State was canceled due to rain, and the Blue Hens claimed the Jimmy John’s Lion Classic championship after going undefeated at this weekend’s invitational.
Delaware, which is 4-0 for the first time since the 1997 season, was the lone unbeaten team at the tournament. Host Southeastern Louisiana finished in second place with a 3-1 record, while Nicholls State, Jacksonville State, St. Louis and Tennessee-Martin all finished tied for third with 2-2 records. Louisiana Tech finished in seventh place at 1-3, while Southern went winless in its four games.
The Blue Hens opened its season on Friday with a 4-2 comeback victory over Southeastern Louisiana, and followed that up with a 3-1 triumph over Southern later that day. Delaware began Saturday’s action by defeating Tennessee-Martin, 7-2, before Lara Andrews’ three-run walkoff homer gave the Blue Hens a dramatic 4-3 victory in eight innings over Louisiana Tech.
Andrews was one of six Blue Hens to hit over .300 for the weekend as she finished with a .417 batting average to go with team-highs of three home runs and five RBI. Freshman Hannah George led Delaware with a .600 average and six hits, while fellow rookies Tori Conrad batted .571 and Shelby Jones hit .444 at the tournament.
Delaware utilized five pitchers during the invitational as the Blue Hens allowed just eight runs, five earned, during the four contests. Senior Chenxi Jiao appeared in three games while earning a victory and a save while Taylor Curran, Kiersten Coffman and Amanda Stacevicz all picked up wins in the circle.
The Blue Hens will take next weekend off before playing five games at the Jacksonville University Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla. in Feb. 22-24.
