George Washington University Athletics
GW Softball Heads to La Salle for Midweek Doubleheader
4/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 23, 2013
WASHINGTON - Riding a school-record 11-game winning streak, the George Washington softball team heads to Philadelphia for a doubleheader at Atlantic 10 rival La Salle on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
GW (22-17, 9-3 A-10) is coming off a 4-0 weekend in New England with wins over Rhode Island and defending A-10 champion Massachusetts. Senior Autumn Taylor was named A-10 Player of the Week on Monday.
Taylor, sophomore Victoria Valos and freshman Carlee Gray have combined to drive in 47 of GW's 70 runs during the win streak. Valos is batting a torrid .545 (18-for-33) with five home runs, 15 runs scored and 17 RBIs in the last 11 games, and Taylor is hitting .455 (15-for-33) with two homers, four triples and 17 RBIs. In addition, junior Courtney Martin and freshman Meghan Rico have been dominant in the circle, allowing just 24 runs while striking out 86 in 73 innings.
The Colonials' pitching duo has combined to post a 2.54 ERA on the year, second-best in the A-10, while holding opponents to a league-low .239 average. Martin's 1.94 ERA ranks second in the conference and her 132 strikeouts are third, while Rico's .188 opponent batting average ranks second.
Valos is batting a team-high .376 on the season. Her 45 RBIs are a single-season program record, and her 11 home runs equal her own school mark, which she set last season. Valos ranks second in the A-10 in home runs and RBIs, third in slugging percentage (.761), fourth in runs scored and sixth in average.
Taylor broke the all-time program record for RBIs over the weekend, as she now has 94, and she and Valos are tied for second all-time at GW with 22 career home runs. Taylor is batting .343 with six homers and 35 RBIs on the year - second in program history only to Valos - and Gray is hitting .355 with 27 runs driven in. In addition, senior Amanda Zakeri, who broke GW's career record for stolen bases (69) over the weekend, leads the A-10 with 26 stolen bases, one shy of her own school record.
La Salle (13-25, 2-14 A-10) has dropped 12 in a row and hosts UMBC on Tuesday before taking on GW. The Explorers most recently dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Dayton on Sunday. La Salle is batting just .218 as a team and has been outscored, 198-118. Kendra Heyer leads the Explorers with a .295 average, while Megan Hodgson is batting .272 with a team-high six home runs and 28 RBIs. She is also a perfect 8-for-8 on the base paths. Alicia Aughton is 8-13 with a 3.82 ERA and 67 strikeouts to pace La Salle in the circle.
GW is 8-10 all-time against La Salle with wins in four of the last six meetings, including a doubleheader sweep last season. A number of Colonials have experienced success against the Explorers, including senior Tara Fogarty, who is batting .455 (5-for-11) with two RBIs against La Salle and junior Chelsea Lenhart, who is hitting .357 (5-for-14) with a double and a triple. In addition, senior Julie Orlandi is batting .313 (5-for-16) with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.
Following Wednesday's doubleheader, GW will continue its nine-game road trip with a doubleheader at A-10 rival Dayton on Saturday.
