April 20, 2011
Final Stats
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. The Marist softball team defeated La Salle twice in run-ruled action on Wednesday afternoon to improve their season record to 27-16. In the 9-0 and 9-1 victories the Red Foxes had a complete team effort as the offense hit a total of eight home runs and the pitchers struck out 13 Explorers over 12 innings. Junior Megan Lamoureux (Woonsocket, R.I.) led the offense with two home runs and five RBIs, and sophomore Emily Osterhaus (Suwanee, Ga.) led the Red Foxes in the circle with her one-hit performance in Game 1.
Game 1: Marist 9 - La Salle 0, F/6
In the first game of the doubleheader, two big innings secured victory for Marist. In the first inning, the Red Foxes sent eight batters to the plate and drove in four runs. After the first two runners reached base, junior Nicole DiVirgilio (Aston, Pa.) plated them both as she slammed a three-run home run over the right field wall. The fourth run of the inning was manufactured by the freshmen as Aly Klemmer (Hamilton, N.J.) doubled to left center and eventually scored on a Haley Birnbaum (Lido Beach, N.Y.) sacrifice fly. Staked to a 4-0 lead after one frame, Osterhaus shut down the Explorers over the next five frames, allowing only two batters to reach via walks.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Marist offense re-awoke as freshman Nicole Van Loan (Kingston, N.Y.) reached base, Lamoureux cleared the bases and ended the game with a three-run home run.
For the game, the Red Foxes drove in eight of the nine runs via their season-high four home runs.
Osterhaus collected the win to improve to 11-6 on the strength of her eight strikeout, one-hitter.
Game 2: Marist 9 - La Salle 1, F/6
In a similar fashion to the first game, Marist got on the board early as junior Ashley Corriss (Sayville, N.Y.) lead off the inning with a walk and eventually came around to score the first run of the ball game. After a quiet second inning, the offense was back at it again as Lamoureux homed to drive in herself and Corriss to make the score 3-0.
The Explorers finally broke through for their first run of the afternoon in the fifth inning as Liz Reed hit a home run to bring the deficit down to 3-1. Marist quickly responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Zahka and Birnbaum strung together a pair of singles to set the stage for sophomore Sarah Carmody (Camarillo, Calif.) to hit her first career home run. The next batter junior Caitlin Schell (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) followed Carmody's lead and hit a long ball as well, to give the Red Foxes a 7-1 lead.
The Explorers threatened in the top of the sixth as their 5-6-7 hitters reached to load the bases with one out. Freshman pitcher Paige Lewis (Temecula, Calif.) navigated her way out of the jam, by striking out Danielle Cullen and getting Breanna DiTommaso to foul out.
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore Christina Lausch (Lancaster, Pa.) led off with a double to the left-center field gap. With the next two batters retired, Zahka came up to the plate looking for her third hit of the game, with one swing of the bat, she not only got her hit, but also her second home run of the afternoon and the game-ending ninth run for Marist.
In game number two, the Red Foxes equaled their season-high of four home runs and set a season-high with 24 total bases.
With her six innings of one run, five strikeout pitching, Lewis improved her season record to 13-6.
The Red Foxes will be off from action for the next six days until they face off with Army in a doubleheader at West Point on Tuesday April 26. The first pitch of the twinbill is slated for 5 p.m.
