George Washington University
1-0
Oakland
1-1
Colonials Clobber Grizzlies, 14-4
2/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 23, 2007
MACON, GA - Junior second baseman Hilary King crushed two home runs to lead George Washington (1-0) to a 14-4 victory over Oakland University (1-1) in their season debut at the Mercer Classic in Macon, GA. King went 2-2 with a career-high six runs batted in on the day in her first career multi home run game.
Freshman pitcher Amanda Gabriel made her first career start and struck out the first batter she faced. She then gave up a single to centerfielder Audrey Sibourin and hit the next Grizzly, catcher Samantha Rhein. After first baseman Alex Perrino struck out, the Grizzlies got on the board on a RBI single by third baseman Katie Dreyer which scored Sibourin from second base. Gabriel forced leftfielder Cheron Guyton to ground out to end the inning.
Senior shortstop Elana Meyers led off the Colonials side of the fist inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second after another sharp single by junior third baseman Caroline Howe. King got GW on the board when she slugged a three-run home run to centerfield, giving the Colonials a 3-1 lead. Sophomore first baseman Carrie Higdon followed King with a double to right center. Junior centerfielder Jackie Yaniga came up next and reached on an error by shortstop Julie Owen which advanced Higdon to third. Senior catcher Nikki Brooks followed up with a sacrifice fly to centerfield which scored Higdon to make it 4-1.
The Colonials erupted for seven more runs in their half of the second, which was led off with a double by senior leftfielder Janelle Parker. She advanced to third when Meyers ground out to the right side. Junior rightfielder Chrysanthi Halkiotis was then hit by a pitch, which brought up Howe for the second time of the day. Howe delivered with a RBI single to left and later stole second base. King came up next and smashed her second three-run home run of the day to make it 8-1. After two straight walks to Higdon and Yaniga, Brooks reached on an error by second baseman Haley Emerson which scored Higdon from second to make it 9-1. Yaniga and Brooks then converted on a double steal which put two runners in scoring position for Parker. Parker singled to bring in both runners giving GW a 11-1 advantage.
Junior Lisa Cohen relieved Gabriel to start the fourth inning and gave up two runs on three hits. Gabriel re-entered later in the inning to stop the bleeding.
In the Colonials half of the fourth, juniors Collen Kegler and Katie Miller started another rally, reaching base on walks. Elana Meyers brought them home with a three-run shot to make it 14-3.
Gabriel finished off the Grizzlies in the fifth and the Colonials picked up the win with the eight-run mercy rule after five innings of play. Amanda got her first career win allowing two runs, one earned over 4.1 innings, while striking out six and allowing just one walk.
Every starter for the Colonials reached base and scored a run in the victory. Head coach Kim Staehle becomes the first coach in program history to win their first game as head coach of the Colonials.
Notes: Elana Meyers went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and three runs batted in ... Carrie Higdon's double in the first inning was her third career hit and all have gone for extra bases ... Freshman Amanda Holst doubled in her first career at bat in the third inning.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Amanda Gabriel (1-0)
L: Clark (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rhein 1 ; Love 1 ; Schulty 1
HR: Guyton 1
RBI: Dreyer 1 ; Guyton 1 ; Roberts 1 ; Schulty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sabourin 1 ; Love 1 ; Guyton 1 ; Lynch 1
HBP: Rhein 1
Batting:
2B: Holst, Amanda 1 ; Carrie Higdon 1 ; Parker, Janelle 1
HR: Elana Meyers 1 ; King, Hilary 2
RBI: Elana Meyers 3 ; Howe, Caroline 1 ; King, Hilary 6 ; Nikki Brooks 2 ; Parker, Janelle 2
SF: Nikki Brooks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elana Meyers 2 ; Chrysanthi Halkiotis 1 ; Howe, Caroline 2 ; King, Hilary 2 ; Carrie Higdon 2 ; Yaniga, Jackie 1 ; Nikki Brooks 1 ; Kegler, Colleen 1 ; Miller, Katie 1 ; Parker, Janelle 1
SB: Chrysanthi Halkiotis 1 ; Howe, Caroline 1 ; Carrie Higdon 1 ; Yaniga, Jackie 1 ; Nikki Brooks 1
HBP: Chrysanthi Halkiotis 1
