Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Colgate
Army Splits Sunday's Twinbill at Colgate
April 08, 2012 | Softball
April 8, 2012
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Freshman RHP Morgan Lashley scattered five hits and struck out three, and Alex Reynolds drove in a pair of runs as Army rallied for an 8-4 win over Colgate and a split of a Patriot League softball doubleheader Sunday afternoon after being shut out 7-0 in the first game.
Trailing 1-0 in the nightcap after Colgate scored an unearned run in the first inning, Army tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth on Reynolds' sacrifice fly to left field scoring April Ortenzo, who doubled.
The Black Knights (22-15, 5-3 PL) capitalized on three hits and an error for a pair of runs in the fifth and a 3-1 lead. Clara Navarro's RBI single to left field scored Ali Cleinmark for the tie-breaking run. Rachael Duval, who singled, moved to second on Navarro's base hit. She advanced to third on the right fielder's error and crossed on a another when the first baseman overthrew home plate on the relay.
Colgate (12-16, 7-1 PL) answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth on Stephanie Hartquist's leadoff homer to pull to 3-2, but Lashley (18-11) retired seven of the next eight batters she faced before being touched for a pair of runs in the seventh. By that time Army had built an insurmountable 8-2 lead behind three runs in the sixth and two more in the fifth banging out eight hits in those two frames along with capitalizing on a pair of errors.
Reanna Johnson singled home Reynolds, who led off with a single and moved around on an error and sacrifice bunt, for the first run in the fifth inning in knocking out starter Courtney O'Connell (6-5). Rachael LeCoq, who pitched Colgate to the first game shutout, took over the circle.
Cleinmark's sacrifice bunt delivered AuBuchon, who reached on the second baseman's error and moved around on the sacrifice bunt and Johnson's single, for the second run in that frame. Duval's two-out RBI single up the middle knocked in Johnson for a 6-2 lead.
Army put the game out of reach with a pair of runs on five hits in the seventh. Ortenzo, who led off with a single, crossed when the third baseman overthrew first base on Amanda Nguyen's grounder. Reynolds drove in Nguyen, who reached third on that error, for the second run and an 8-2 lead.
Army collected 12 hits in the game with all nine starters getting a hit led by Ortenzo, Reynolds and Duval with two each as the Black Knights snapped a 10-game series losing streak to the Raiders, dating back to 2010.
In the first game, Colgate snapped a scoreless tie with five runs on five hits along with an error in the bottom of the fifth inning, but only one run was earned off reliever Jules Steurer (4-5) who took over from Lashley. Hartquist's three-run homer keyed that uprising and she singled home another in a two-run sixth as Colgate scored late runs en route to taking three of the four-game series from the Black Knights.
LeCoq (5-8) scattered six hits, struck out seven and issued one walk and stranded nine Army base runners in going the distance.
The Black Knights threatened with runners in scoring position in three of the innings, the last in the seventh. With one out she issued a walk to Navarro followed by Nguyen's single, but retired the side on an infield popup and strikeout to preserve her shutout.
Army is idle this week, returning to action next weekend when it visits league rival Bucknell for a four-game set.
DIAMOND NOTES: Senior Alexis AuBuchon continues to move up the school's career charts. She is tied for second place in total bases (280) and doubles (46), while her 96 RBI and 55 walks are fourth. Freshman Morgan Lashley is writing her name into Army's single-season chart. Her 198.0 IP is just 1.1 shy of the school record, while her 36 appearances list third and is just three shy of the record. In picking up three wins last week, Lashley boosted her mark to 18 to list fourth, one shy of third, and her 156 strikeouts rank fourth.
