April 5, 2009

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - No. 23/18 Massachusetts proved to be too much for Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon as the it dealt the Billikens their first Atlantic 10 Conference loss of the season in an 8-0 five-inning affair in the series opener. SLU (13-21, 6-2 A-10) fared better in game two but the Minutewomen (20-6, 6-0 A-10) still managed to walk away with a 3-1 victory to sweep the series and remain unbeaten in league play.

Saint Louis put a single runner on base in each of the first two innings courtesy of Rachel Heet's one-out single in the first and Keri O'Keefe being hit by a pitch in the second. But the Billikens were unable to produce any runs while holding off a UMass rally in the bottom of the first after two of its first three hitters reach base.

However, the Minutewomen went on to break up the shutout in the second. Michelle Libby walked to start the frame and was sacrificed to second base with a bunt before SLU starter Stacy Gillette issued another free pass to Davina Hernandez. Then Gillette recorded her third strikeout of the game for the second out. But Carly Normandin followed with a home run to center field to give her team the 3-0 lead. The rally did not stop there as Kyllie Magill reached on a Billiken error and then stole second base. Back-to-back singles from Whitney Mollica and Samantha Salato pushed the lead out to four runs.

UMass' Jessica Serio hit a solo home run in the third, while Magill and Salto each collected an RBI in the fourth to make it a 7-0 game. After hitting O'Keefe with a pitch in the second, All-American Brandice Balschmiter struck out seven straight Billikens before Kelly Flanagan hit a one-out single in the fifth. But Balschmiter got right back to it as she fanned the next two batters to end the scoring threat.

Serio's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth ended the game via the run rule and halted Saint Louis' A-10 win streak at six games. Gillette (4-9) was saddled with the loss. She scattered eight hits and three walks for eight runs (five earned) while striking out four.

Both teams threatened in the first inning of game two, but it was the Bills who managed to take the first lead of the contest when Katie Johns hit a home run to center field to start the second. But the lead was short-lived as Massachusetts came back and scored two runs in the bottom half of the frame. With two down, Hernandez doubled to left field and scored on a home run by Whitney Williams for the 2-1 edge.

The only other run in the game came in the bottom of the third when Mollica hit a leadoff single, was sacrifice to second and came around to score on a Sarah Reeves RBI single. Erin Cejka and Johns started the fourth with back-to-back singled and Kerri Dockins drew a two-out walk to load the bases. However, Minutewomen starter Sara Plourde induced a ground out to escape the jam.

Johns led the offense with two hits and one RBI, while Erin Kelly (4-5) shouldered the loss for the Billikens. She gave up three runs on seven hits in the first 2-1/3 innings. Emma DeKalb allowed just two hits and struck out two in 3-2/3 innings of relief.