George Washington University
10-2
Maryland
9-7
Softball Stops Maryland to Extend Streak
3/1/2019 1:42:00 PM | Softball
Colonials won their eighth straight game Friday
The Colonials knocked off a Power 5 opponent for the second straight day behind another strong all-around effort from Sierra Lange, who earned a complete-game victory and crushed her first home run of the season.
Jenna Cone also stayed hot at the plate in the victory, posting three hits and scoring twice for the Buff and Blue, who improved to 10-2 for the best mark through 12 games in program history.
Following up Thursday wins over Florida Atlantic and host North Carolina, GW staked Lange to an early lead against Maryland with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Marta Fuentes put the Colonials ahead with a two-out RBI double before another run came home on the next play via an error by the Terrapins.
Lange added on in the third with a two-run blast over the left field wall to score Cone, and the lead reached 5-0 in the fourth when a bases-loaded walk by Elena Shelepak brought in Cone.
Making her third start in two days, Lange battled to make sure that was enough for GW. Maryland loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but the Colonials' hurler induced a popout to keep the lead intact.Â
In the seventh, the Terrapins got on the board via a two-run home run from Taylor Okada and then brought the tying run to the plate with two outs before a liner to Fuentes at shortstop ended the game.
Lange improved to 8-1 on the season after allowing two runs on nine hits over seven innings. Her streak of scoreless innings reached 27 before giving up the late long ball, and she hung tough afterward for her fifth complete-game victory of the season.
With a pair of hits on the day, the sophomore from Texas also boosted her team-leading batting average to .538.
As part of a 10-hit attack, Shelepak and Alessandra Ponce both reached twice with a single and a walk.
UP NEXT:Â GW takes on Fairfield on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. before closing the weekend vs. UNC Greensboro on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
WATCH THIS: Hear from head coach Shane Winkler after the win over Maryland.
Another huge team effort to beat a Power 5 opponent for the second straight day and earn an eighth straight win! Hear from Head Coach Shane Winkler after the win over Maryland. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/Y5xoZ67e0I
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) March 1, 2019
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lange, Sierra (8-1)
L: Sydney Golden (6-3)
Batting:
2B: Fuentes, Marta 1
HR: Lange, Sierra 1
RBI: Lange, Sierra 2 ; Shelepak, Elena 1 ; Fuentes, Marta 1
SH: Ortlieb, Olivia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cone, Jenna 2 ; Lange, Sierra 1 ; Ortlieb, Olivia 1 ; Bloomfield, Sidney 1
CS: Tejcek, Riley 1
Batting:
HR: Taylor Okada 1
RBI: Taylor Okada 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor Okada 1 ; JoJo McRae 1
HBP: Anna Kufta 1
