Boxscore Game 1
Boxscore Game 2
PHILADELPHIA – Freshman Michelle Foster drove in pinch runner Leanne Miller for the game-winning run to help the Goldey-Beacom College softball team win a 6-5 see-saw battle in game one, but the Lightning could not hold off a relentless Ram offensive attack in game two as they fell, 12-4 for the doubleheader split.
Junior Shannon O'Hara pitched 2.2 innings of relief for senior starting pitcher Heather Draper and allowed just one earned run on two hits and a walk while fanning three to improve to 3-1 on the season. Miller (2-3) took the loss in the nightcap as the Lightning were run-ruled in five innings.
Foster led the Lightning offensively with four hits (including a double), two runs and three RBI while freshman Roni Peters and junior Jordan Waterloo each collected three hits in the doubleheader as well.
The Lightning's record moves to 11-7 with a 4-4 mark in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play. PhilaU is now 8-12 overall and 2-8 in league play.
GBC's game one win was just the second win over PhilaU in the last 12 meetings dating back to 2006.
Game 1:
The Rams put a run on the board in the bottom of the first after a leadoff walk by Jen Richard and a Lightning error. But GBC responded with two runs in the top of the second courtesy of three hits and a PhilaU error.
Junior Danie Rice started the two-out rally in the second frame with a base-hit to left field, and Foster followed with a single to center field. Junior Ashley Paige then reached on an infield error to load the bases, and senior Jackie Waddle knocked in two runs with a single up the middle to put the Lightning in front, 2-1.
GBC extended the lead to 3-1 in the top of the third thanks to a triple to deep center field by Peters which scored Waterloo from first.
Draper cruised through the second and third innings, but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth when she walked Danielle Parisi to begin the inning. After Parisi's base-on-balls, Meaghan Lewis reached on an infield error, and there were runners on first and second with no outs.
The Lightning's senior co-captain fought hard and got Ally Vrcek to hit a grounder to third where Peters alertly stepped on the bag for the force out to get the lead runner and the first out of the inning. Draper then struck out Samantha Riabko for the second out. But just when it looked like the Lightning would make it out of the inning with no damage, Ali Schmidt ripped a single to left field to score Lewis and bring the Rams within a run, 3-2.
After Schmidt's RBI single, Draper walked Alexandra Hultberg to load the bases, but came through with a big-time strikeout of Richard, the Rams leadoff batter, for the final out of the inning to preserve the lead.
After a silent top of the fifth by the Lightning, PhilaU again made some noise in its half of the inning beginning with a one-out solo homerun by Katie Renner. The next batter was Parisi, who earned her league-leading fifth triple of the season and came home to score on an errant Lightning throw to put the Rams in front, 4-3.
Head coach Bill Streets took Draper out after the Parisi at-bat and O'Hara went to work with one out in the bottom of the fifth. O'Hara retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Foster led off the Lightning sixth inning by reaching on a PhilaU infield error, and then she advanced to second on a ground-out by Paige. Waddle's second hit of the game moved Foster over to third, and then junior Shannon Graves drew a walk to load the bases with just one out.
Junior Cailin Cavanaugh, who came into the game with the ninth-best batting average in the CACC, ripped a two-RBI single to left field, scoring Foster and Waddle to give GBC back the lead, 5-4. The Lightning left Cavanaugh and Graves stranded, however, as the next two batters, Waterloo and Peters, went down on strikes to end the inning.
O'Hara walked Riabko and gave up a base-hit to Schmidt to start the bottom of the sixth. Riabko advanced from second to third while GBC got Schmidt with the force out at second, and then came home for the tying run on a passed ball.
PhilaU's Devin Griglick, who reached on the fielder's choice play earlier in the inning, moved up to second on that same passed ball, and then stole third. She was left stranded, however, when Richard was called out for batter's interference and O'Hara struck out the league's eighth-leading batter, Allison Glaser to keep the score tied, 5-5.
Leading off the top of the seventh inning, O'Hara reached on an infield error, and Miller came in to pinch run. Miller advanced to second on a single by Rice and then to third on a passed ball. She finally would come home on an RBI single up the middle by Michelle Foster for what proved to be the winning run.
Game 2:
The Lightning struck first in the top of the first as Graves led off the game with a walk, stole second, and came around to score on an RBI double by Foster.
But PhilaU responded in a hurry, scoring six runs over the course of the first two innings on five hits and capitalizing on one GBC error.
Graves started off the top of the third inning for the Lightning with a double to center field and came around to score on an RBI single by Peters. Then after Peters advanced to second on a passed ball, she too came around to score on a base-hit by Foster, and the Lightning had cut the lead to 6-3.
The Rams added a run in the bottom of the third, and then two consecutive GBC errors with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning allowed the Rams to go on a four-run charge and open up an 11-3 advantage.
Again Graves walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning as Goldey-Beacom tried to mount a comeback. She moved into scoring position with her second stolen base of the game, and Peters smacked her second double of the game into center field to bring her home.
Graves finished the game 1-for-1 at the plate with a double, two walks and three runs scored from her leadoff spot. Peters, batting third in in the lineup, was 2-for-3 with two doubles, and two RBI.
The run scored by Graves in the top of the fifth was all the Lightning would get in that inning, and PhilaU extended its lead to eight with an RBI single by Parisi, scoring Glaser.
