March 25, 2004

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - For the second time in three days, Lafayette's softball team was shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, then returned the favor with a shutout win of its own in the nightcap. On Thursday, the Leopards dropped a 1-0 decision in the opener at Penn, then rallied for a 3-0 victory in game two.

Freshman Megan Averbuch (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfield) was the hard-luck loser in game one, throwing 6-2/3 scoreless innings before Penn's Kailen Ainley drove a walk-off double to centerfield that scored pinch runner Jen Nichols from second.

Both teams managed just six hits in the opener, with freshman centerfielder Erin Pawlak (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant) leading Lafayette with a single and double in three at bats.

Ainley was 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot for the Quakers, while Erin O'Brien also chipped in two hits.

Penn's Lindsey Permar struck out eight and walked none in earning her fifth win of the season.

The second game nearly mirrored the first, except this time it was Lafayette benefiting from a seventh-inning extra base hit. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases, and senior Laura Schrager (Montclair, N.J./Montclair-Kimberly) cleared them with a one-out, pinch-hit triple to left.

Sophomore Lauren Belowich (Edison, N.J./J.P. Stevens) set the Quakers down in order in the bottom half for her third win of the year. She allowed just four hits while striking out for and walking one in the complete game.

Four players accounted for one hit apiece for the two teams in the nightcap.

At 5-10, Lafayette has already equaled its win total from a year ago. All five of the Leopards' wins this season have been by a single run; four have been shutouts and three have been by a count of 1-0.

Lafayette opens Patriot League play this weekend, hosting Bucknell for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.