May 2, 2009

Box Score

WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington sent its seniors off in style with a pair of Atlantic 10 Conference wins over Saint Louis on Senior Day at Mt. Vernon Softball Field in Washington DC on Saturday afternoon. The Billikens (21-31, 12-6 A-10) left 10 runners on base in a 6-0 game-one loss. SLU scored first in the second game, but the Colonials (16-33, 6-14 A-10) rallied late to claim a 6-5 eight-inning victory.

In game one, the Billikens stranded one runner in the first and three in the second, while the Colonials struck for four runs in the bottom half of the second inning. With two outs, GW starting pitcher Amanda Gabriel knocked a single off the shin of Kelcie Matesa, SLU's starting pitcher. Ali Waterman also reached on a single before Matesa yielded back-to-back walks to put GW on top 1-0. With the bases still full, Krissy Mackiewicz hit a two-run single and Tori Sensi added an RBI single of her own to make it 4-0.

George Washington added a pair of runs in the fifth after Sensi singled and Katie Terrazas was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch before Elisa Van Kirk plated a run with a sacrifice fly. After Lauren Wilson drew a walk, she and Terrazas pulled off the double steal to give the Colonials the 6-0 advantage.

SLU left runners on base in every inning but the fifth, stranding 10 total baserunners. The Billikens were out-hit 9-5, with each of their hits coming from a different player. Matesa (7-13) suffered the loss, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks with one strikeout in 1-2/3 innings. Emma DeKalb allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with one punchouts in 4-1/3 innings of relief.

The Bills came out with a vengeance in game two. Kristin Nicoletti reached on an infield single and then stole second base. Then Rachel Heet put down a bunt for a single to put runners on the corners. Nicki Jost plated SLU's first run of the day with a double to right field. Erin Cejka followed with a sacrifice bunt, on which Heet was able to score from third for the 2-0 edge. After GW recorded the second out, Kelly Flanagan was hit by a pitch. Pinch runner Rachel Faletto and Jost pulled off the double steal to increase the Billikens' lead to three runs.

The Colonials began to find their offense in the fourth as their first two batters reached on consecutive singles. But SLU's game-two starter, Stacy Gillette, worked her way out of it, retiring the next three batters on a strikeout and two ground outs. The Billikens put two more runs on the board in the top of the fifth. Jost drew a two-out walk and scored on Cejka single to center field. Then Katie Johns single to give Saint Louis runners on the corners. Johns broke for second on the first pitch and got caught in a rundown as Cejka raced home and scored to make it a 5-0 game.

GW rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. The Colonials began the rally with consecutive hits to put runners on second and third. Gillette got her first out on a fly out to center field before Terrazas plated her team's first run of the contest on a ground out to second base. After Van Kirk drove in a second run with an RBI single, Erin Kelly took over in the circle. Wilson singled off Kelly before Gabriel reached on a Billiken error to load the bases. Kelly then issued a walk to Kara Clauss to push across GW's third run. Matesa came on in relief but the first batter she faced, Amanda Holst, knocked in two runs with a single to knot the score at 5-5.

Neither team was able to claim the lead until George Washington earned the win in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Mackiewicz and Sensi hit consecutive singles through the left side. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch before Terrazas drew a walk to load the bases. Then Van Kirk was hit by a pitch to push the winning run across and end the game.

Nicoletti paced the Bills with three hits, while Heet contributed two. Cejka had two of Saint Louis' three RBIs in the game and Jost had the other. Matesa suffered the setback after surrendering one unearned run on six hits and one walk while fanning three in the final 2-2/3 innings. Gillette gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out five in the first 4-2/3 innings. Kelly allowed two unearned runs on two hits and a walk.