Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Lafayette
Lashley Shuts Out Lafayette Twice
April 21, 2012 | Softball
April 21, 2012
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Freshman right-hander Morgan Lashley recorded her fourth and fifth consecutive complete-game shutouts as Army took two games from Lafayette Saturday in completing a four-game weekend sweep of the Leopards. Lashley fired a one-hitter in a 1-0 win in the first game and scattered four hits in a1-0 nightcap decision as the Black Knights shut out the Leopards in all four games in the series outscoring them 8-0.
Army (31-15, 13-3 PL), in the midst of a 10-game win streak, became just the fourth team in school history to reach the 30-win plateau. Head coach Michelle DePolo has led the Black Knights twice to 30-win seasons in her three years at the helm. Her 33 wins her rookie year (2010) tied the school mark of 33, first set in 1988. It is also the third time Army has scored 30-plus wins at the Division I level.
Lashley, who was dominant throughout the Lafayette series in pitching Army to all four wins this weekend, lost out on her no hitter with one out in the top of the sixth inning in the first game. Leopard Kris Berger took Lashley's first offering and sent it to left field, but was retired trying to steal second base. She was just the third Leopard to get on base with the first two drawing walks as Lashley did not allow a runner into scoring position.
Lafayette's Melissa Robinson was equally as impressive in the pitcher's duel in limiting Army to just three hits, walked two and struck out one in being tagged with the loss. Army snapped a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth capitalizing on a leadoff walk to Alex Reynolds, a fielding error and the first hit of the game off Robinson. Marina Northup (2-for-3) took the second offering from Robinson and smacked a double to right field scoring Reynolds for all the runs needed to record the win.
Robinson, who pitched the Leopards in all four games over the weekend, then denied Army an insurance run retiring the side in the fourth on back-to-back infield popups and a flyout to center field in stranding runners at second and third. The Black Knights threatened in the fifth and sixth innings with a runner in scoring position on base hits by Clara Navarro in the fifth and Northup in the sixth, but each time Robinson got out safely.
Lashley (27-11) beat Robinson (10-18) again in a pitcher's duel in the nightcap. Lashley, who scattered four hits and did not issue a walk and struck out three batters, just once allowed a Leopard into scoring position in the four innings they got on by a hit. Gwen Turner beat out an infield hit to start off the fourth and was sacrificed to second where she was stranded as Lashley retired the side on a strikeout looking and popup to the shortstop in mowing down eight of the final nine batters she faced.
"It feels great to know that I have a part in a record here at West Point and at the Division I level," said Lashley. "I couldn't do it without the nine other players on the field, but more importantly I wouldn't want to do it without this team."
Robinson, who retired nine of the first 10 batters she faced, yielded a pair of hits in the top of the fourth along with the lone run of the game. Capitalizing on two hits and a pair of errors, Army broke through with a run on Alexis AuBuchon's sacrifice fly to center field delivering Amanda Nguyen (2-for-3) from third base. Nguyen led off with a single to center field and picked up another base on the fielder's misplay, then moved to third on a fielder's choice to set the stage for AuBuchon's fourth RBI in the series and 31st of the season.
Northup followed with a single to left field in that inning and was safe at second when the second baseman dropped the ball on the throw, but was stranded. The Black Knights threatened in the fifth and sixth innings with runners in scoring position, the most dangerous in the sixth when Nguyen reached on a fielding error and moved to third base, but Robinson retired the final six batters she faced in denying Army an insurance run.
Nguyen was 8-for-13 with four runs scored in the series with AuBuchon collecting four hits and driving in four runs and scoring once as Army batted .253 to Lafayette's .179. Lashley struck out 22 batters, walked six and yielded 17 hits over 28 scoreless innings in boosting her shutout mark to nine while sharing another.
Lashley has not allowed a run over a span of 36 innings dating back to the final game of the Bucknell series on April 15, and has allowed just two runs over the last 45 innings she has pitched. Ranked ninth nationally in wins at the start of the week, Ashley stretched her school single-season Division I mark to 27, which is two shy of Army's all-time mark of 29 set in 1988.
"I think what was key in this four-game sweep was not dominating the scoreboard," added the Army freshman hurler. "We have been having big innings and scoring lots of runs, but it was nice to show everyone that we can win by one or two as well.
"It gives our team the confidence we need to know that our defense is outstanding and all we need is to score a few runs and play how we know to play. This sweep gives us even more confidence going into next weekend."
Army's four-game shutout of Lafayette is just the second time in school history that the Black Knights have blanked a league opponent since sweeping Bucknell, 4-0, 7-0, 4-0 and 6-0, in 2002.
The Black Knights stretched their home consecutive win streak to 14 straight which ranks fifth highest among the nation's longest active home winning streaks.
In other league action today, Bucknell swept Holy Cross, 4-2 and 3-2 (8) to take three of the four-game series this weekend, while Lehigh swept Colgate, 4-3, 10-0 (5) in the opening day of the series with Sunday's doubleheader postponed to Wednesday because of rain The Mountain Hawks are in first place in the league at 13-1 with Army next at 13-3 followed by Colgate (9-3).
Army will put its season-long 10-game win streak on the line when it heads to Yale Tuesday for a non-league doubleheader prior to hosting defending champion and first-place Lehigh in a four-game set next weekend in the league's regular-season finale.
