Softball Splits Pair With Monmouth
4/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 14, 2003
FAIRFIELD, CT - Senior Pam Vuijst poked a single to right with two outs in the ninth inning of game one to drive home the winning run and help the Sacred Heart University softball team to a split of a Northeast Conference doubleheader with Monmouth University. The Pioneers won the opener 2-1, while Monmouth came back to win the second game 8-0.
The Pioneers, now 9-20 overall and 4-6 in the NEC, took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of game one on an RBI single by sophomore Tiffanie Cross-Monzo (Thousand Oaks, CA). The hit scored Grace Teruel (Montague, MA), who had led off the inning with a bunt single.
Monmouth, 10-14 overall and 6-2 in the conference, tied it in the fifth inning on an RBI single to left by senior Elissa Connell (Howell, NJ) that scored Kristin Wilson (Bellville, NJ).
The two teams went into extra innings tied. It looked like the Hawks might go ahead in the top of the ninth when Tammy Lascar (Oakland, NJ) reached on an error to start the inning. Wilson followed with a bunt single to put two runners on. Dana Pasini laid down a bunt to try to move the runners up, but the ball was too hard and Lascar was forced at third. The next batter flew out to right, and Connell then grounded back to SHU pitcher, Michele Walker, to end the inning.
Sacred Heart got a one-out single by freshman Jen Place (Latham, NY) in the bottom of the inning, followed by a single to right by freshman Heather Gutkes (Newport, RI) to put runners on the corners. Monmouth pitcher Kim Lyall (Bristol, PA) fanned Teruel for the second out. It looked like the Hawks were going to intentionally walk the hard-hitting Vuijst, but the ball was too close to the plate and Vuijst slapped it to right to score Place with the winning run.
In game two, Connell sparked a six-run fifth inning for the Hawks with a two-run single that helped Monmouth end the game in six innings. She would finish the game with three hits and three RBI. Wilson also had three hits in the game, and freshman Ashley Dellens (Ontario, CA) had two hits and two RBI.
Sophomore Lori Padgett held the Pioneers to just four hits and evened her record at 5-5. She struck out three and walked four.
