March 16, 2004

Softball Drops Two Games to Drexel, One to Villanova

Print More

The softball team took a road trip to Pennsylvania this weekend looking to extend its five-game winning streak to start the season.

Instead, it ran into three consecutive losses followed by only one win in its two doubleheaders against Drexel and Villanova. Cornell’s record fell to 6-3 after the disappointing road trip.

“We just did not come through in clutch situations against Drexel,” said senior co-captain Melissa Cannon. “We didn’t play as clean as we needed to. We were still hitting the ball but we just weren’t doing it in clutch situations.”

Drexel handed the Red its first two losses of the season in Saturday’s doubleheader. In game one, Cornell took the early lead with a run in the fourth inning on a RBI double to right field by junior catcher Melissa Heintz. However, the Dragons tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on Karen Morizi’s RBI triple.

The Red had another opportunity to score in the eighth inning with the score tied at one. Cannon singled to right field and Heintz tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate by Eva Noelsch.

In the bottom of the inning, Drexel freshman Erin McKee drove in Stephanie Graziosa from third base to seal a 2-1 victory for the Dragons. Senior pitcher Sarah Sterman took the loss for the Red, as she allowed just one earned run over 7 2/3 innings.

The Red again jumped out to an early lead in game two on an RBI triple by Cannon, scoring freshman catcher Sarah Ruben. But, Drexel came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, capitalizing on two Cornell errors. In the fifth inning, the Red committed another error on a past ball, allowing the Dragons to take a 2-1 lead.

With a two-run deficit heading into the eighth inning, the Red struck back with a pair of runs on a double by senior Sandra Alvarez. But, Cornell ran itself out of a big inning with a very costly and unconventional 8-1-6 double play. When freshman Beth Price singled to center, Morizi threw to Drexel’s catcher to nail Alvarez at the plate. Price was then gunned down at second, as she tried to take an extra base on the out at home.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Red were unable to escape yet another costly mistake in the field. Drexel freshman Brianne Brown smacked a single to the outfield that was misplayed by Sweeney, allowing the winning run to score from first base.

“We outhit them but we left a lot of runners on base,” Cannon said.

On Sunday, Cornell played another doubleheader, this time against Villanova. In game one, the Red yet again came up short in a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Wildcats. The Red was held to only four hits for game, with its only run coming on a seventh-inning RBI double by Heintz.

Sophomore pitcher Kristen Landis took the loss in game one, giving up five runs on nine hits over six innings of work. The finishing blow came in the sixth inning as Kristen Straight launched a two-run homer to put the Wildcats ahead by a score of 5-0.

“We didn’t fell like we played bad,” Cannon said, “but our bats came alive more in the second game.”

Cannon could not have said it any better, as the Red compiled twelve hits and clobbered Villanova in game two by a score of 10-1. May was the offensive star for the Red, collecting four RBI, two of which came on a towering two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. Sterman pitched her second solid game of the weekend, giving up just three hits over five innings.

The Red will travel to Kissimmee, Florida next week for the Rebel Games.

Archived article by Bryan Pepper