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Softball defeats Gannon for first time
in four years
By Jodi Westrick
Collegian Reporter
In their final non-tournament
league action of the season, the softball team battled to split
games with Gannon and Mercyhurst over the weekend.
The Chargers either won or lost all four of
their games by one run.
The games bring their record to 16-18-1 overall,
9-11 in the GLIAC.
The Chargers pulled out a 4-3 victory after
eight innings of play to defeat Mercyhurst in their first game
Sunday.
Freshman Kristin Johnson scored the go-ahead
run after sophomore Lindsey McNaughton reached first base on
an error.
The Chargers also got stellar performances
out of senior Sara Lesko, juniors Becky Fair and Amy Paling,
and freshman Jamie Meyers.
They all went 2-4 at the plate, providing
six of Hillsdale's 12 hits.
In the second game, the Chargers were only
able to manage four hits off of the Lakers' freshman pitcher
Jen Feret.
Meyers again had a solid performance, going
2-3 at the plate.
"We didn't play bad," freshman Amy
Whaley said.
"I wish we could have pulled off all
four games because we're capable of beating anyone out there.
"The competition in our league is all
pretty much the same. It just changes on any given day, so you
don't know what to expect."
In their first game against Gannon, the Chargers
defeated the Golden Knights' dominating senior pitcher Heather
Ford for the first time in four years.
Junior Colleen McNutt singled to right field
to bring in Becky Fair, providing the only run of the game in
the bottom of the eighth inning.
"It shows the strength of our team,"
McNutt said.
"We haven't beaten her yet, so it was
a good feeling to do it in Game 1."
In addition to McNutt's performance, the Chargers
continued to get solid play out of Fair and McNaughton.
The Chargers lost a close second game, 3-4,
to Gannon.
They started bringing runs in at the top of
the third inning, when a double from Lesko scored sophomore
Kaci Jagutis.
The Knights retaliated by scoring two in the
bottom of the third.
Hillsdale cut the deficit to one in the fifth,
only to have Gannon score two more runs.
Despite an RBI by junior Wendy Miedema in
the seventh inning, the Chargers were unable to overtake Gannon.
"We're not coming up with a big hit when
we need it," Whaley said. "We're leaving people on
bases. It's nothing major; we just need to get those people
in to score runs."
The Chargers continued to get consistent pitching
from McNaughton and Whaley and saw some tough pitching from
senior Joelle Frantz.
The Chargers head to the GLIAC tournament
in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. this Friday and Saturday.
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