Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Georgia State
Dragons Come From Behind To Shock Georgia State in Softball Sweep
4/14/2007 3:00:35 PM | Softball
Philadelphia, Pa. – Drexel softball (13-11, 6-5 CAA) shocked the Georgia State Panthers (25-22, 5-6 CAA), coming behind for a pair of one-run victories in a doubleheader sweep of the third-place team in the CAA. In game one, Drexel seized victory from the clutches of defeat by scoring four runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally from a 5-2 deficit for a thrilling 6-5 victory. Kristen Beaver delivered the game-winning hit, a single to right field that plated Molly Dacey with the winning run. In the nightcap, rookie pitcher Katrina Gaudier turned in a gutty performance, holding the Panthers scoreless after a two-run first inning to make a 3-2 Drexel lead hold up for her seventh win of the season.
Game One
Drexel's offense sprung to life with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning after remaining relatively dormant for the majority of the game. Christina Rodriguez supplied a two-run home run in the second inning, but Drexel would not get a runner past second base again until the Dragons found themselves on the brink of defeat in their last at bat. Kristen Beaver came up with the clutch two-out walk-off single that gave Drexel a 6-5 victory in the series opener.
Lena Aiken started the Dragons' final-inning heroics when she pulled a two-out hit through the left side of the infield for her third single of the game. Brianne Brown followed with a single to the same spot in left field, sending Aiken to third base and bringing the tying run to the plate in the bat of Sandi Wambold. Wambold singled to centerfield on a 1-1 pitch to make it a 5-3 game. Dacey pulled the fist pitch she saw to the left side, the shortstop tried to get the force at third base, but Brown hustled and slid in before the throw, keeping rally alive and loading the bases for freshman Ashley Botelho. The rookie rose to the occasion by blooping a single into centerfield that plated Brown and Shattuck and tied the game. Kristen Beaver stepped to the plate and stroked the first pitch she saw in to right field to bring home Dacey with the game-winning run.
Jessica Gowin drove in the Panthers' first run with the bases loaded in the second inning. Gaudier hurried the ball in from right field and the Dragons were able to catch one runner in a run-down for the second out. Shattuck induced a fly ball off the bat Holly Willis that came to rest in the glove of centerfielder Lisa Williams as Drexel escaped the inning allowing just one run.
Rodriguez gave Drexel a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second with a two-run blast over the Georgia State banner in left centerfield.
The Panthers got both runs back in the top of the third when she hit a 3-1 pitch to the warning track in left centerfield with runners on second and third. Shattuck settled down to fan Alison Bradford and end the inning. Williams tracked the ball to the gap and made a full-extension dive on the warning track, but the ball fell in between her and charging left fielder Christina Rodriguez, giving Georgia State a 3-2 lead.
Shattuck walked in a run in the fifth inning to extend Georgia State's lead to 4-2. But she battled back to get a grounder up the middle by Gowin, Shattuck gloved it and flipped the ball to first to end the inning with the bases loaded. Mary Kathryn Branan tacked on another insurance run in the sixth with a solo home run lifted down the left field line with two outs, putting Drexel in a 5-2 hole going into the seventh inning.
Shattuck evened her record at 3-3 on the season despite walking nine batters. She gave up all five runs while scattering six hits and striking out three batters. Aiken went 3-for-4 in the game with a run scored. Rodriguez's two run dinger in the second was her second home run of the season and gave her a career-high 10 RBIs on the year.
Game Two
Katrina Gaudier took the ball in game two and after getting knocked around early, settled down to shut out the Panthers for six straight innings. She earned her team-leading seventh win of the season by scattering seven hits over seven innings and walking just one batter. Drexel took advantage of a fielding error by shortstop Rachel Cunningham to score the go-ahead run in the fourth inning. Gaudier pitched well enough to make the slim margin stand as the Dragons swept day one of CAA play against Georgia State.
After watching game one slip through their hands, the Panthers jumped all over Drexel in game two. Danielle Roddy hit the first pitch of the game over the fence in left centerfield. Georgia State plated another run on a grounder by Rachel Cunningham when Aiken went home with the throw, but not in time to beat the runner.
Drexel got one back in the bottom of the first when Williams beat out a bunt single and took second on a high throw by the pitcher. Aiken sacrificed her to third base and Brown hit a grounder to the right side and Williams slid under the throw home to make it a 2-1 game.
The Dragons backed up their rookie pitcher in the field in the top of the second as Botelho threw out Roddy attempting to steal second. Brown ended the inning with a nifty short-hop pick up at third and a strong throw to first. In the third, Drexel would shut out the Panthers, coming up with a strike out, throw out double play.
After holding the Panthers scoreless through four innings, the Dragons pulled ahead of Georgia State in the bottom of the fourth. Wambold led off with a single up the middle and pinch runner Victoria Hanks took second on a sacrifice by Dacey. Botelho blasted a double that rolled through the gap in left center to the fence. Hanks came around to score and tie the game at 2-2. Botelho moved over to second on a ground out by Beaver and she came in to score the go-ahead run on a grounder by Rodriguez that was bobbled by the shortstop.
Drexel maintained its 3-2 lead through the fifth inning despite back-to-back singles by the Panthers to start the inning. Gaudier cruised through the sixth, retiring Georgia State's four, five and six hitters in order.
In the top of the seventh, Gaudier got the lead-off hitter to ground out. She walked Holly Willis and Danielle Roddy reached on a fielder's choice when Beaver failed to get the lead runner at second on a grounder to short. The number two hitter Mary Kathryn Branan fouled off four pitches with a 2-2 count before hitting a fly out to Jessica Bongiovanni in short right field. Gaudier fought back from a 2-0 count against Nicole Griffin and go her to hit a towering fly ball to Beaver at shortstop to end the game.
The twin victories are Drexel's first wins over Georgia State since the Panthers joined the CAA last season. The Dragons will attempt to complete the three-game sweep at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. Several of Drexel's softball alumni were in attendance for the big wins as part of the team's Alumni Day festivities.
