March 31, 2005
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette split a softball doubleheader with Penn on Thursday afternoon, salvaging the day with a 5-1 win in the nightcap after losing 8-4 in the opener.
Junior Lauren Belowich had her second straight solid outing for the Leopards, allowing just one run on seven hits in the second game. Megan Averbuch, the starter in the first game for Lafayette, gave Belowich a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out single that scored Michelle Ellis and Jill Masterton.
Penn scored its only run of the game in the third when Kaelin Ainley came home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Belowich buckled down and retired Christina Khosravi on a pop-up to first base to end the inning.
An error on the Quakers with one out and one on in the fifth fueled a three-run frame for the Leopards. Kristen Ruckno drove in a run with a double down the left field line, and Kathryn Longshore had a pinch-hit single to score Masterton. Averbuch collected another RBI as Ruckno scored on a groundout, and Lafayette led 5-1 after five innings.
Belowich faced eight batters over the last two frames to protect the lead and earned her third win of the season, lowering her ERA to 2.96. Lindsey Permar gave up three earned runs and was hit with the loss.
In the first game, Averbuch and Quaker starter Kara Eyre tossed scoreless innings before Penn got on the board in the third. Two errors on sacrifice bunts allowed the Quakers to put three unearned runs on the board with the benefit of just one hit.
Eyre was knocked out of the game after being hit by a line drive back to the mound to end the second. Olivia Mauro went to the circle in relief and sat the Leopards down without scoring in two innings of work and collected the win. Rachel Mowry threw the last three innings and was credited with the save.
A run-scoring single by Ainley in the fourth and an RBI base hit by Brandi King in the fifth gave Penn a 5-0 advantage before Lafayette dented the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Amy Gimma.
The Quakers (9-11) went ahead 8-1 with three more runs in the sixth and were helped by two Lafayette errors. The Leopards (5-16) matched the three-spot in their half inning. Samantha Lucas drove a single to left field that scored two runners, and Gimma knocked in another run with a single that made the score 8-4 and loaded the bases for Masterton. The sophomore shortstop lifted a fly ball to right field that was caught a few steps shy of the fence to end the inning.
Neither side scored in the seventh. Therese Taraschi replaced Averbuch with two runners on and nobody out in the sixth and allowed an unearned run.
Lafayette will resume Patriot League play this weekend with doubleheaders at Lehigh on Saturday and Sunday.
