March 26, 2006

Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Freshman Jessica Green (Manassas, Va.) and senior Katie Eskin (Edison, N.J.) hit walk off home runs to lead the Marist softball team to a sweep of Yale at the Gartland Athletic Field on Sunday afternoon.

In game one, Yale took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, when Aracelis Torres took a pitch from Marist starter Megan Rigos (Pittsburgh, Pa.) over the right field wall for the Bulldogs only run of the game. Following the round tripper, Rigos shut down Yale, as she allowed just two singles the rest of the game, one of which was an infield hit to second base. Rigos pitched a complete game in picking up her seventh win of the season, giving up just the three hits and one earned run. She walked one batter against five strikeouts.

Yale held the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third, when senior Chrystine McHugh (Port Ewen, N.Y.) hit a bullet that cleared the center field wall for her fourth home run of the season, to knot the score at 1-1. The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Red Foxes were able to get the first two runners of the inning on.

McHugh led off the frame with a walk and was followed by a Christine Jakobsen (Midland Park, N.Y.) bunt single to give Marist two runners on and no one out. With the winning run on second base Green got around a pitch from Yale left hander Ashley Linnenbank and drove it over the left field fence for the game winning three run home run to give Marist a 4-1 victory.

McHugh, Green and Eskin each picked up two hits apiece and combined for six of the Red Foxes' eight for the game.

Game two was another tight affair and this time Marist got out to the early lead via the long ball. McHugh led off the bottom of the first with a line drive home run to right field for her fifth of the season to give Marist an early 1-0 lead. The Foxes would add a second run after Green drove in a run in the third, giving Marist the 2-0 advantage.

Marist starter Kristen Merlino (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) pitched 4.2 innings giving up just the one earned run. She pulled a magic act in the third when she wiggled out of a bases loaded no one out situation without giving up a run.

Yale squared the score in the top half of the fourth as catcher Katie Edwards drove a ball out to straight away center to cut the lead in half. Following a walk and a ground out Yale tied the score when Megan Enyeart scored on an error by Marist shortstop Katie Eskin.

Merlino was relived with two away in the fifth by Caitlin Carpientier (Andover, Mass.) who completely shut down Yale's offensive attack. In her 4.1 innings off work she allowed just one hit and struck out seven in earning her second win of the season.

Eskin made amends for the error in the fourth when she won the game with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the ninth to send Marist to its second straight sweep over an Ivy League opponent. Eskin led of the ninth with a high fly ball that stayed just fair along the left field foul poll to give Marist its second walk off win of the day.

With the sweep the Red Foxes move to 11-5 on the season and remain red hot, as they have won four straight and 10 of their last 11 contests.

Marist will be back in action at the Gartland Athletic Field on Tuesday, March 28 when it hosts Army for a doubleheader beginning at 2:30.