Softball Splits Doubleheader With Liberty
April 17, 2004 | Softball
East Carolina (39-14-1) jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first inning as Lacassa Hill led off the game by drawing a walk and later scored on an RBI double to the gap in left center field by Kate Manuse to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
Liberty (18-33) quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the first frame as Gertie Jeffries reached base on a bunt and scored on a double to the wall in right center field off the bat of Cassie Campbell, while Campbell scored later in the inning on an RBI single up the middle by Amanda Maska to give the Lady Flames a 2-1 advantage.
The Pirates knotted the score at 2-2 in the third inning as Hill once again drew a walk, advanced to second on a stolen base and scored on a double to the gap in right center by Kristen Johnson. Mandi Nichols enabled East Carolina to regain the lead in the fourth inning as she connected on her fourth home run of the season with a solo shot to straightaway center field to give the Pirates a 3-2 advantage.
The see-saw battle continued in the bottom of the fourth as Lauren Hahn doubled to the wall to right field, while Terra Lowe connected on her first career home run, which ricocheted off the upper portion of the flag poll in center field to give the Lady Flames a 4-3 lead.
The Pirates once again tied the game in the fifth frame as Shirley Burleson led off the inning with a bunt single, advanced to second on a stolen base and was able to score after an errant throw got past Kristen DeJong as she covered third base.
Liberty took its third lead of the contest in the bottom of the fifth inning as DeJong reached base on a knock up the middle and scored on a base hit to center field by Lindsay Schwind to give the Lady Flames a 5-4 advantage.
The Pirates tied the game once again in the following inning as Krista Jessup led off the sixth inning with an infield single and scored on an RBI base hit to left field by Leigh Savoy to knot the score at 5-5.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh inning as Whitney Trigg led off the inning with an infield single and scored on another infield hit to shortstop off the bat of Schwind after a Pirate error extended the inning, allowing the Lady Flames to walk away with the 6-5 win.
Sarah Swor continued her successful streak as she won her fifth-straight decision by allowing four earned runs on six hits, while striking out six batters which enabled her to become the sixth freshmen in school history to record 100 strikeouts in her first collegiate season.
Maggio Lingo suffered the loss as she allowed an unearned run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings of action, following starting pitcher Keli Harrell, who surrendered five runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the second game as the Pirates jumped out to a quick three-run lead in the first inning as East Carolina's first four batters hit for the cycle as Lacassa Hill led off the game with a triple, followed by a Kristen Johnson homer, a Kate Manuse double and a single up the middle by Krista Jessup.
The Lady Flames answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame as Gertie Jeffries connected on an infield single, while Cassie Campbell reached on a fielder's choice. Amanda Maska extended her season-long hitting streak to 13 games in style with a three-run homer to knot the score at 3-3.
The Pirates added one in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Hill, while the Lady Flames reclaimed the lead with four in the bottom of the frame, which was highlighted by a lead-off homer by Terra Lowe and a two-RBI single by Maska.
However, East Carolina put the game out of reach in the third inning as the Pirates batted around for the first of two times in the remainder of the game and scored seven runs on four hits to give them an 11-7, which they maintained the remainder of the contest.
The game marked the second-most combined runs ever scored in a Lady Flames softball game, falling five runs short of the school record of 37 runs scored in the Lady Flames' 23-14 loss to Colgate on March 25, 1994.
Jessup finished the game with a team-leading 5-for-5 performance from the plate, while Hill was 2-for-4 with four RBI, followed by Kristin Johnson's 3-for-5 with three RBI.
The Lady Flames were paced by Maska's second two-homer game of the season as she was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate with a school-record seven RBI. Jeffries followed with a 3-for-4 performance, while Kristin DeJong was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Brently Bridgeforth upped her record to 15-6 on the season as she allowed four earned runs on five hits, before Maggie Lingo finished off the game by allowing four runs on nine hits.
Terra Lowe suffered the loss as she allowed three runs on no hits, but walked two batters and hit another in just 1/3 innings of relief work. In total, the Lady Flames used all five of their rostered pitchers as the squad gave up a season-high 18 hits and 15 earned runs.
