April 01, 2010

BULLDOGS BATTLE IN GAME ONE BUT DROP BOTH IN DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST UALBANY

Boxscore #1 / Boxscore #2

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University softball team battled in game one Thursday afternoon but was unable to pull off the victory as the Bulldogs dropped both games of the doubleheader to the University at Albany. Bryant was defeated 2-1 in game one and was shutout, 8-0, in five innings in the nightcap.  

The Bulldogs (3-21) and the Great Danes (10-9) were locked in a pitching duel for most of the first game as Bryant's Jennifer Jacob (Deer Park, N.Y.) pitched all seven innings, allowing just seven hits and just two runs. Albany's Leah McIntosh threw a complete game as well, allowing just four hits and one earned run as she picked up her fourth win of the season.

The Great Danes were the first to threaten as they loaded the bases in the top of the third inning, but Jacob and the Bulldogs were able to get out of the inning harmless and still dead-locked at zero.

Bryant came right back in the bottom of the third and loaded the bases as well but UAlbany would not allow any Bulldog to cross the plate. It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth when the game's first run would be scored.

Senior captain Ali Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) got the Bryant rally going for her team with a single to third base. Freshman Kate Murray (Fitchburg, Mass.) followed her captain with a single of her own to put runners on first and second with only one out. With a little help from Albany's McIntosh, who threw an illegal pitch, Chouinard and Murray were both able to advance one base and put runners on second and third with one out. That allowed a Lindsay Martin (Methuen, Mass.) groundout to plate Chouinard and give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead after four innings.

Despite throwing nine illegal pitches in the contest, McIntosh struck out 11 Bulldog batters.

The Great Danes picked up two runs in the top of the sixth inning, the go-ahead from a Gina Mason homerun, and would go on to shut down the Bulldogs in their last two at bats and secure the 2-1 victory in game one.

Junior Regi Burdo (Wayne, Pa.) and sophomore Laura Bowen (Hudson, Mass.) each had one hit in the first game of action.  

After the Bulldogs gave up one run in the top of the first inning of game two, Bowen picked up right where she left off for Bryant, striking the first pitch to lead off the bottom half of the inning off the center field fence for a double. However, Albany's Marissa Powell was able to pitch out of the threat and avoid allowing any runs.

The Great Danes picked up three in the third and one in the fourth to take a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Bryant's Talia Zizza (Reading, Mass.) and Brittany Lischinsky (Mahopac, N.Y.) hit back-to-back singles to start the inning and put runners on first and second with no outs.  Bryant would go on to load the bases with one out, but once again the tough pitching of the Albany staff was able to get out of the inning without allowing a Bulldog run.

The Great Danes put the second game out of reach in the top of the fifth when Mason hit her second homerun of the day, a towering two-run shot to centerfield off the first pitch from relief pitcher Kelly Cocco (Vernon, Conn.), to give her team a 7-0 lead. UAlbany would pick up one more in the top of the fifth and hold BU scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to win 8-0 by virtue of the five inning mercy rule.

Mason was 3-5 with four RBIs on the day.

Bryant's Brittany Hart (North Andover, Mass.) got the loss in the outing, throwing four innings and allowing six earned runs. Hart also struck out six.

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, April 3, when they travel to Hamden, Conn. to take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats in a Northeast Conference matchup. The Black and Gold returns home on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when they host the University of Connecticut at the Bryant Softball Complex.