No. 23 Softball Extends Win Streak to 14
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Box Score 2 BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Apr. 1, 2014) - The No. 23 LIU Post softball team moved into first place in the East Coast Conference Tuesday with a sweep of Bridgeport at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn. The Pioneers were victorious by decisive 3-1 and 9-0 scores.
Senior center fielder
Alexis Gonzalez (Hauppauge, N.Y.) gave senior hurler
Liz Weber (Brightwaters, N.Y.) all the run support she would need with a first inning two-run shot after freshman first baseman
Kayla McCoy (Smithtown, N.Y.) had reached on a one-out double.
The Pioneers (17-3, 4-0 ECC) added an insurance run in the fourth inning when freshman second baseman
Melissa Peet (Monroe, Conn.) reached on an error by the Purple Knights' third baseman, allowing sophomore third baseman
Maria Palmeri (Middle Village, N.Y.) to score all the way from first.
Bridgeport (10-13, 5-2 ECC) managed to make things interesting though in the last of the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Meghan O'Leary crossed the plate on a fielder's choice, but sophomore reliever
Quincy Lewis (Corning, N.Y.) induced a groundout and pop out both to senior shortstop
Nicole Hagenah (Commack, N.Y.) to close out the game, earning her fourth save of the year.
Gonzalez and Palmeri each finished the game with two hits, while Gonzalez added two RBIs and a run scored.
Weber earned her ninth win of the season, tossing six and one-third innings. The senior allowed one run on five hits and one walk while fanning six.
The nightcap was an entirely different story as the green and gold piled on six runs in the top of the fourth on seven hits. Hagenah led off the inning with a single to left, and two batters later, junior catcher
Aly Dzierzynski (Deer Park, N.Y.) added a single to right. Palmeri followed with a double to left to bring home Hagenah, and Peet contributed an RBI single to right. Junior right fielder
Samantha Miller (East Meadow, N.Y.) ripped a two-RBI double of her own, while McCoy joined in with an RBI single to left. Following a Gonzalez walk, Hagenah notched her second single of the inning to bring home McCoy for the inning's sixth run.
Hagenah had yet another RBI single in the top of the sixth, scoring junior left fielder
Catherine Havens (Eastport, N.Y.), who had reached on a Purple Knight miscue to lead off the inning.
The Pioneers were not done scoring, though, as freshman pinch hitter
Mackenzie Buckley (St. James, N.Y.) blasted a double to center field with Peet and Palmeri aboard to extend the lead to 9-0.
Hagenah led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance, while Havens, Peet, and McCoy each registered two hits.
Junior
Megan Salcido (Brawley, Calif.) picked up her first win of the season as she threw a complete-game shutout. The junior surrendered just five hits and two walks over seven innings of work.
The Pioneers will return to the diamond on Thursday (Apr. 3), as they host St. Thomas Aquinas for an ECC match-up at the LIU Post Softball Complex in Brookville, N.Y. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.