George Washington University
2-6
Marist
1-1
GW Softball's Kovalsky Tosses Complete Game Shutout
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Feb. 20, 2015
GW 8, Marist 0 | Photo Gallery 
ORLANDO, Fla. - The George Washington softball team split the first day of competition at the Citrus Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex on Friday.
The Colonials (2-6) dropped a 7-6 decision to Arkansas (5-7) before defeating Marist, 8-0, in six innings to close out the day.
In game one, the Razorbacks took an early lead after junior righty pitcher Meghan Rico gave up a single and a walk to start the second inning and could not get out of the jam, yielding a two-out single to Arkansas' Kasey Fagen to plate the first run of the contest. The Razorbacks tacked on three more in the third on a three-run dinger by Kate James.
GW would answer back, posting a three-spot in the top half of the fourth, all with two outs, as freshman Alana Anderson notched a pinch-hit single with the bases loaded before classmate Aiyana Leal-Robles followed suit with a pinch-hit double to plate another pair before the inning ended.
With freshman Sarah Costlow in the circle for relief, Arkansas scored for the third consecutive inning on a double, stolen base and fielders choice, making the score 5-3 after four.
In the top of the fifth, the Buff and Blue capitalized on two errors and two passed balls by Arkansas to notch three more runs and take the lead at 6-5. The Colonials would hold the advantage until the bottom of the seventh, when Arkansas took advantage of a GW error to start the inning, followed by a hit batter and an intentional walk with one out to load the bases. A Stephanie Canfield single knotted the game at six before Tori Cooper's single up the middle plated the winning run for Arkansas.
In game two, the Colonials jumped out to an early lead after sophomore Megan Linn led off the inning with a single, then stole second and advanced to third on classmate Bradleigh Breland's single. A first and third play was put into effect, with Breland sacrificing an out on a stolen base attempt, allowing Linn to cross home. Sophomore starting pitcher Paige Kovalsky smashed a two-run double following walks to senior Victoria Valos and junior Morgan Matetic to complete the scoring for the inning.
The Buff and Blue struck again in the third on a two RBI double by freshman Aiyana Leal-Robles, plating Kovalsky, who had reached base after her second two-bagger of the game, and senior Samantha Dos Santos, who had reached base on a fielder's choice and stole second.
The Colonials added two more insurance runs in the fourth, as both Breland and Valos reached base on hits and scored on a Matetic double to advance the lead to 7-0.
GW enacted the mercy rule in the sixth after Linn reached base on a bunt single, advanced to second on a ground out, reached third on a passed ball, and scored on a Valos single, giving the Colonials their second victory of the season.
Kovalsky (1-0) earned the win for the Colonials in game two, starting her first contest of the season and going the distance, yielding just five hits and four walks while striking out five in six innings of work. Kovalsky also made an impact at the plate, batting 4-for-7 on the day with three RBIs. Leal-Robles led GW with four RBIs on 2-for-4 hitting, while Linn and Matetic each chipped in three hits in the two games.
The Colonials face Virginia (3-8) at 11 a.m. and Elon (3-4) at 3:30pm on Saturday for day two of the Citrus Classic.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kovalsky, Paige (1-0)
L: Lalli, Janine (0-1)
Batting:
SH: Perez, Miranda 1
Base Running:
SB: Duddy, Maureen 1
Batting:
2B: Valos, Victoria 1 ; Matetic, Morgan 1 ; Kovalsky, Paige 2
RBI: Valos, Victoria 1 ; Matetic, Morgan 2 ; Kovalsky, Paige 2 ; Leal-Robles, Aiyana 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Linn, Megan 2 ; Breland, Bradleigh 1 ; Valos, Victoria 2 ; Matetic, Morgan 1 ; Kovalsky, Paige 1 ; Santos, Samantha 1
SB: Linn, Megan 1 ; Santos, Samantha 1
CS: Breland, Bradleigh 1
