Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LOS ANGELES – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team started off its week-long stay in California with a split; a 7-5 win over Iona in game one and a 8-0 loss to host Loyola Marymount. With the results, the Knights move to 2-4 on the season, while the Gaels fall to 2-10 and the Lions improve to 14-19 overall.
In game one against Iona, FDU jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks to three home runs and held on despite four late Gael runs. In game two, the hosting Lions jumped on
Loren Stavrou (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson Classical High School) for a first-inning three-spot and never looked back.
Kristen Turner got Iona off on the right foot with a two-out solo shot to left center off
Megan Reiner (Los Angeles, Calif./John Marshall) but
Madelaine Wilen (Bakerfield, Calif./Ridgeview High School) answered with one of her own to lead off the bottom of the first.
Emma Deluca (Vernon, N.J./Vernon Township High School) led off the bottom of the second with the go-ahead solo home run, her first of the season. Two more Knights reached on singles but Jordan Courage escaped the jam.
Reiner allowed just one more hit over her next two frames and in the fourth, the Knights expanded their lead. Deluca singled to left and was sacrificed over by
Cheryl Lopez (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville). Bellini reached on a passed ball and stole second and Wilen was walked to load the bases for
Alex Portesi (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo). The sophomore shortstop doubled to deep center, scoring two, and Courage was pulled from the game.
Angelique Nieves (Union City, N.J./High Tech High School) got one more insurance run on the board for FDU with a sac fly.
Deluca reached for the third straight time with a walk and Lopez smacked her first homer of the season to left to make it 7-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
Iona's Brianna Schauer hit a long ball in the sixth to cut the deficit to five and added three more in the final frame on three hits and one error.
Reiner got the win to move to 2-2 on the season and picked up her second complete game. The senior allowed seven hits and three walks but struck out eight.
"We played a complete game against Iona," Head Coach
Candi Letts said, "We hit the ball well and had timely hits with runners in scoring positions."
Against Loyola Marymount in the early evening, the Knights offense could never get going despite six hits in six innings.
Alicia Brown and Caitlin Harman each had RBI singles for the Lions and Brown scored with the bases loaded when POGI was hit by a Stavrou pitch.
The junior settled down after that for nearly three full frames but allowed a two-run home run to FINIE, scoring Pogni, to make it 5-0 after four.
Lopez relieved Stavrou and allowed one hit in the fifth but nothing else. The Knights went down in order and the Lions extended their lead to 8-0 with a three-run sixth, on two wild pitches and a passed ball.
Stavrou received her first loss of the season (0-1) with eight hits and five earned runs in four complete innings. Stephanie Crist moves to 4-7 with her complete game shutout.
"Against Loyola Marymount, we did not have the hits with runners in scoring position. We hit the ball but nothing fell for us." Letts said.
The Knights have Wednesday off before beginning the LMU/Muscle Milk Softball Invitational on Thursday against Harvard. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
