George Washington University
23-26
Saint Louis
27-31
Softball Drops A10 Championship Opener To Saint Louis, 5-4
5/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 9, 2007
AMHERST, MA - The sixth seeded, George Washington Colonials (23-26) fell to the third seeded, Saint Louis Billikens (27-31), 5-4, in GW's first ever Atlantic 10 Tournament game at the UMass Softball Complex. Jenna Renner's pinch hit home run in the sixth proved to be the difference, while Ashley Levan recorded the win for Saint Louis pitching a complete game giving up three earned runs and striking out eight.
The Billikens got to freshman right-hander Amanda Gabriel in their half of the second as Annie Dillinger connected on a one-out solo home run to centerfield. Gabriel walked the next batter, Allison Appenfeller and she scored on a pair of throwing errors on Brittany Schmidt's sac bunt.
Saint Louis got another run in the top of the third as Rachel Heet led off with a double, and scored on a RBI single up the middle by Shana Richard.
The Colonials got one run back off SLU starter, Ashley Levan, in the fourth as senior Elana Meyers reached on a walk and was driven in by an double down the left field line by junior Caroline Howe. Meyers scored on the play as left fielder Jill Pursell bobbled the ball.
Senior pitcher Lisa Cohen came in to relieve Gabriel to start the fourth inning and got out of the inning unscathed.
GW tied the game at 3 in their half of the fifth, with two runs of their own. Junior Colleen Kegler led off the inning with a solo blast to deep centerfield. Levan struck out the next batter, junior Jackie Yaniga, but she reached first on a passed ball. Junior Katie Miller sacrificed her over to second for senior pinch hitter, Kaity Harbour. Harbour singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. With two outs, Meyers hit a high chopper to short and reached safely, scoring Yaniga.
GW took the lead in their half of the sixth with a solo blast by junior Hilary King. The transfer from Rutgers has now hit six home runs in each of her two seasons with the Colonials.
Renner's two-out, pinch hit homer was her fourth home run of the season.
Cohen received the loss for GW giving up just two earned runs in three innings of relief.
The Colonials will now play the Charlotte 49ers in the 4:00 pm game as the 49ers fell to Temple, 8-0, in their 12:00 pm game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Levan (6-3)
L: Cohen, Lisa (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Howe, Caroline 1
HR: King, Hilary 1 ; Kegler, Colleen 1
RBI: Elana Meyers 1 ; King, Hilary 1 ; Kegler, Colleen 1
SH: Miller, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elana Meyers 1 ; King, Hilary 1 ; Kegler, Colleen 1 ; Yaniga, Jackie 1
CS: Sensi, Tori 1
HBP: Sensi, Tori 1
Batting:
2B: Pursell 1 ; Heet 1
HR: Dillinger 1 ; Renner 1
RBI: Richard 1 ; Dillinger 1 ; Renner 2
SH: Ernst 1 ; O'Connell 2 ; Schmidt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Heet 1 ; Dillinger 2 ; Appenfeller 1 ; Renner 1
CS: Burns 1
