Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
George Washington
Softball Swept By George Washington
March 06, 2011 | Softball
Box Scores
Game One
Game Two
WASHINGTON, D.C. - George Washington swept both ends of a softball doubleheader from Army, capitalizing on a wild pitch to score the winning run in a 6-5 first game decision, then jumped out to an early lead in a 6-2 nightcap victory.
In the opener, Army (4-6) rallied with five runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 5-all as the Black Knights batted around in the top of the sixth inning capitalizing on three hits, four walks and an error as 11 batters came to the plate.
Designated player Angela Deger reached on an error by the shortstop to open the sixth inning, then moved to second when Rachael Duval drew the first walk of the game off Kara Clauss. With one out, Alexis AuBuchon launched her first home run of the season (career seventh) on a hit over the left field fence with two players on board to cut the Colonials lead to 5-3.
Meghan McGowan followed with a double up the middle, Marina Northup drew a walk and Amanda Nguyen beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Following the second out on an infield popup, Clauss (4-2) yielded bases-loaded walks to Alex Reynolds and Deger as Army tied the score 5-5. Clauss did not allow Army to score the go-ahead run as she got the next batter on a foul ball popup to end the inning with bases loaded.
Northup, taking over the circle in relief in the second inning from starter Shawna Bleyl, held the Colonials in the bottom of the sixth retiring three of the four batters she faced. After yielding a single with two outs, she struck out the next batter for her second strikeout in that inning.
Clauss did not allow Army to do any more damage as she retired the side in the top of the seventh inning with the final two on strikeouts looking. In the home half of the inning, Northup yielded a leadoff single to Katie Terrazas. She struck out the next batter looking, issued a walk and picked up the second out on an infield groundout as Terrazas moved to third base. With Autumn Taylor, who had driven in two runs, at the plate, Northup issued a wild pitch and Terrazas raced home for the winning run in handing the freshman left-hander her second loss of the season.
Army, stranding nine runners, had a pair of runners in scoring position in the third and fifth innings with one out. Glass got out of the jam in the third inning on back-to-back groundouts, and on a strikeout and groundout in the fifth inning.
The Black Knights collected five hits in the game with McGowan ripping a pair of doubles along with scoring a run, while the Colonials collected seven hits.
The Colonials (5-3) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the nightcap capitalizing on three hits, four walks and two hit batsman, three errors and a passed ball over the first two innings with just three of those runs earned. George Washington added a run in the fourth inning to boost its lead to 6-0.
Winner Heidi Penna threw hitless ball over the first four innings, retiring 13 of the first 14 batters she faced, but was denied the no-hitter and shutout in the top of the fifth inning when Duval led off with a double up the middle, moved to third on Haley Pypes groundout and scored on Reanna Johnson's RBI groundout for Army's first run of the game.
The Black Knights added a second run in the top of the sixth when they collected two hits off Penn. With one out, Nguyen doubled and moved to third on the center fielder's error. April Ortenzo followed with a single up the middle that delivered Nguyen, then she moved to second on a stolen base and third on the catcher's overthrow. After walking the next batter and with the tying run at the plate, Penn nipped Army's rally striking out the final two batters. After walking a batter with two outs in the top of the seventh, she closed the door on a groundout to level her season record to 1-1 going the distance on a three-hitter with three strikeouts and five walks.
Nguyen had a hit in both games going 3-for-6 with a run scored.
Weather permitting, Army and George Washington will close out their four-game series Sunday afternoon starting at 10 a.m. The forecast is for heavy rain at press time.
