Black Knights Split Midweek Twin Bill Versus Marist

Wednesday, April 10

West Point

3:30 PM

Army West Point

18-22

Marist

21-17

Marist

Army West Point

Black Knights Split Midweek Twin Bill Versus Marist

April 10, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point softball team split its midweek doubleheader against Hudson Valley rival Marist at the Army Softball Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

The Black Knights opened the day with a 6-0 victory following a display of power from sophomores Grace Mattimore and Taylor Drayton who combined for three home runs. The Red Foxes evened the series on the day with a 5-1 win in the night cap.

Mattimore's return to the starting lineup yielded a great return for the Cadets as the Ashburn, Va., native led the squad with four hits, three RBI, two home runs and two runs scored on the afternoon. Drayton added a home run in the opener. Senior Ashley Yoo, junior Emily Ballesteros and sophomore Ally Snelling each added multiple hits on the day with Ballesteros and Snelling tallying a double apiece.

On the rubber, senior Renee Poirier marveled in the opener with a complete game shutout. The Plainville, Mass., native allowed just two hits and two walks in the outing while striking out three Red Foxes.

GAME 1: Army 6, Marist 0
HOW IT HAPPENED

Ballesteros opened the scoring for the Black Knights with an RBI double that sailed over the left fielder's head to drive in Yoo.
Ally Snelling added to the lead two batters later with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 Army lead.
Mattimore drilled a leadoff home run to extend Army to a three-run advantage.
The Ashburn, Va., native slugged a two-run dinger in the following inning to push the Black Knights' edge to 5-0.
Drayton added the squad's third long ball of the day to cap the scoring for game one.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Mattimore slugged her fourth and fifth home runs of the season.
The Ashburn, Va., native recorded her first multi-home run game as a Cadet.
She became the first Cadet to post multiple home runs in a game since Amelia Trotter did so against UMass Lowell on April 14 last season.
Mattimore tallied three or more RBI for the fourth time this season.
Drayton added her fourth homer of the year.
Ballesteros notched her 125th career base hit.
The Chino Hills, Calif., native drew the 50th walk of her career.
Yoo documented her team-leading 12th multi-hit effort of the season.
The Yorba Linda, Calif., native tallied her 120th career hit.
Snelling collected her 60th hit in an Army uniform.
Poirier tied Shawna Bleyl and Leigh Harrell for ninth on Army's all-time wins list with her 31st career victory.
The Plainville, Mass., native contributed her first shutout of the year and eighth of her career.

GAME 2: Marist 5, Army 1
HOW IT HAPPENED

Marist got out to an early lead after scoring twice on a defensive miscue by the Black Knights in the second inning.
Morgan Gianelle's RBI single extended the visitors' lead to 3-0 in the third before a Julia Wyatt scored Bianca Gonzalez in the home half of the inning.
Gianelle added a two-run home run in the seventh to put the game out of reach for the Black Knights and secured the split for Marist.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Mattimore posted back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time in her career.
Ballesteros tied Yoo for the most hits on the squad with 34.

COACH'S CORNER

Interim head coach Bob Beretta – "I was really pleased with the way we played in the first game. Renee was in complete control, shutting down a potent offense. We did a great job of jumping on top and extending the lead. It's nice to have Grace (Mattimore) back and performing the way she did before she got hurt. We've really missed the run production she supplies in the middle of our batting order.
"After you win the first game the way we did, it's very easy to get greedy and want a sweep, but we didn't do the little things necessary to win the second game. Taylor Drayton gave us a chance to win with a solid effort in the circle, but we left some runs on the field and didn't make enough plays defensively. I loved the fight of our team. We kept grinding until the last out and put on some quality at-bats against an excellent pitcher in the last few innings.
"Marist is well coached and a quality ball club. They will contend for the MAAC championship, so overall it wasn't a bad day. You'd like to win both games, but I think we took some steps forward today."

UP NEXT

Army resumes Patriot League play with a road series at Lehigh this weekend.
The Black Knights and Mountain Hawks will begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up the series on Sunday. Both days are slated to begin at noon.