Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Towson
Softball Turns Away Towson For Sweep on Senior Day
4/27/2008 1:54:40 PM | Softball
Philadelphia – Drexel took advantage three more Towson errors to score two unearned runs and utilized a couple timely hits by Kristen Beaver and Lisa Williams to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Tigers (32-23, 9-8) completing a three-game series sweep. Breanna Gomez pitched three and a third strong innings in relief to earn her fifth win of the season and Ellen Boundy picked up her second save in as many days to give her team an important conference victory. The win slides the Dragons (25-17, 10-8) ahead of Towson and into fourth place in the CAA.
Christina Rodriguez went 2-for-3 and scored a run from the lead-off spot for the Dragons. Carla Waldron scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning on a stand-up triple by Kristen Beaver. Ashley Botelho and Lisa Williams also drove in runs for Drexel to give the team its 10th conference win for just the fifth time in the program's history.
After committing six errors resulting in a combined 13 unearned runs in yesterday's doubleheader, Towson's fielding woes continued in Sunday's series finale. The Tigers committed two errors in the first inning to spot Drexel an early 2-0 lead. Christina Rodriguez led off the game with a single smoke to centerfield which was mishandled by centerfielder Kim Lempa allowing Rodriguez to take second. Gaudier bunted her to third. Hastings rapped a grounder to shortstop Sammi DiPompp, but the fielder could not come up with it, allowing Gaudier to score and Hastings to scoot into second base. Ashley Botelho followed by bending a single just inside the left field line to drive in Hastings and give Drexel a 2-0 lead.
Towson got both runs back in the third inning aided by a pair of Drexel miscues in the field. The Tigers put the first two runners on in the third inning on an error by Beaver at short and a screaming single back up the middle by Mindy Bean. Nina Navarro stroked a single to centerfield and Lisa Williams fired the ball home, past her cut-off, and a collision at home plate allowed Navarro to take third base after Bean and Lempa scored to even the score. The play bounced starter Katrina Gaudier from the game in favor of Breanna Gomez who promptly got out of the inning with a strikeout and a fly out to prevent any further damage.
Kristen Beaver put the Dragons back on top in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and Molly Dacey recently replaced on first base by the speedy Carla Waldron by virtue of a fielder's choice groundout, Beaver lifted an opposite-field fly ball that landed just inside the right field and spun into foul territory away from the fielder. Beaver sprinted into third with a standup triple and Waldron touched home to give Drexel a 3-2 lead. Lisa Williams followed with a smash back up the middle to plate Beaver. The RBI hit drove starter Shannon Johnston from the game in favor of Claire Reitmann-Grout who ended the inning on a groundout by Gaudier after giving up a single to Rodriguez.
Gomez retired the first nine batters she faced in order to keep the Tigers from adding to their two-run total until Aimee Rosa hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. Gomez was assisted by a shoe-string catch by Rodriguez in left field in the fifth inning and a fortuitous bounce on a pop fly to Beaver that squirted out of her glove and landed in the glove of Rodriguez, who was backing up the play.
Ellen Boundy relieved Gomez in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first base following Rosa's homer that made it a 4-3 Drexel lead. Boundy finished off the frame with a swinging strikeout of Steph Streets on a changeup that pained the outside corner. The freshman hurler retired the Tigers in order to slam the door on her third save of the season and second in as many days.
Shannon Johnston incurred the loss, dropping to 16-12 on the season, allowing two earned runs over three and two-thirds innings. She struckout five batters without issuing a walk. Stephanie Fudurich went 2-for-3 for the Tigers.
Drexel is back in action on Wednesday with the team's final home game of the season, taking on Fairleigh Dickinson at 3:00 p.m. at Drexel Field. The Dragons honored seniors Amanda Hastings, Victoria Hanks and Molly Dacey as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to Sunday's contest. Sunday's victory gave Drexel its first ever sweep of Towson in a three-game series. The last time Drexel swept Towson was in 1992 in a doubleheader while both teams were in the North Atlantic Conference.
