Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Providence
Dragons Lose Heartbreaker to Close Out Bronco Stampede
3/4/2008 8:21:49 AM | Softball
Santa Clara, Calif. - Drexel softball completed competition at the Santa Clara University with a gut-wrenching nine-inning loss to Providence, 8-7. The Dragons fought back to tie the game at 2-2 and send it into extra innings and the team didn't flinch when the Friars (5-8) put four runs on the board in the first extra frame. Drexel (4-7) matched the four spot and the teams battled into the ninth inning. But down two in the ninth, with the bases loaded and one out, Molly Dacey hit a screamer that was gloved by the second baseman and converted into a game-ending double play.
Katrina Gaudier got the pitching start and worked effectively through six innings. She was also 1-for-3 at the plate with a double, a run scored and two RBIs. Ashley Botelho, who was swinging a hot bat all weekened, went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Amanda Hastings also drove in a pair of runs and had two hits at the plate.
After falling behind 2-0 by the third inning, Drexel worked its way back into the game when Gaudier hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1. The Dragons knotted it at two run apiece in the fourth when Kelly Downes singled home Botelho, who led off the inning with her second double of the weekend.
Breanna Gomez relieved Gaudier in the seventh inning after the starter worked six solid sets, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. A pair of errors in the top of the eighth inning allowed the Friars to pull ahead 6-2. The Dragons bounced right back, however, sending seven batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and bringing home four runs, capped by a two-RBI single by Hastings.
Providence tacked on two runs in the ninth courtesy of three straight singles before Gomez retired Mary Rose Sheehy on a pop out to first base, setting up the game's thrilling conclusion in the bottom of the ninth.
Drexel opens its 2008 home docket with a pair of doubleheaders at Drexel Field this weekend. On March 8 the Dragons host Bucknell at noon and on Sunday, March 9 Drexel will play two against Marist starting at 11:00 a.m.
