Niagara University, NY (April 24, 2003) - The Niagara softball team (6-18, 5-3 MAAC) put themselves in sole position of fourth place in the MAAC with a 8-1, and 7-6 (nine innings) sweep of cross-town rival Canisius. Co-captains Angie Clarke (Grafton, Ont.) and Colleen Larsen (Beiseker, AB) both hit homeruns Thursday afternoon, Clarke with a grand slam in game one to break the score open and Larsen with a solo shot in each game.
Pitching was one of the stories Thursday afternoon as the Purple Eagles saw three pitchers combine for the two wins. In the first game Ashleigh Barber (Kelowna, BC) pitched the complete game, allowing only one run on seven hits, striking out five batters, not allowing one walk. In game two Kristina Killian (Grand Island, NY) got the start pitching five innings before handing over the duties to Teagan Bennett (Stoufville, Ont.) who earned the win for the Purple Eagles, tossing four shutout innings and striking out five and allowing three hits
The Purple Eagles used a seven-run seventh inning to expand on a early 1-0 lead and defeated the Blue and Gold 8-1 in the opener. A RBI single by Lisa Hess (Youngstown, NY) that scored Jill Koch (Tonawanda, NY) from third gave Niagara a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning. Clarke drilled a grand slam to straightaway center field to highlight the Purple Eagles' seventh-inning explosion. Larsen hit a solo home run two batters later to cap the scoring for Niagara. Ashley Gonnello's solo shot in the bottom of the frame provided Canisius' lone run. Hess went two for three at the plate in the first game.
In the nightcap, Canisius used three wild pitches by Niagara starter Kristina Killian and two passed balls by catcher Amanda Baluch to build a five-run first inning. Niagara would get a run back in the third inning on Larsen's second solo home run of the afternoon and the Purple Eagles took a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning, scoring five runs in the frame. Kelly Honsberger's (Pickering, Ont.) two-RBI pinch-hit single to right field got Niagara going and Bradi Cochrane (Harriston, Ont.) and Hess added RBI singles of their own. Canisius knotted the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the inning on Tempie Coelho-Freeman's RBI double to right center that scored Jamie Gorczynski. Niagara would get the eventual game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning on a RBI double to left field by Baluch that scored Shannon Mongalise (Bethel Park, PA) from second. Jena Jurich took the loss for Canisius, allowing two runs on seven hits in four-plus innings of relief. Both Larsen and Jamie Horn (Youngstown, NY) both went two for four in the nightcap as well as Mongalise going three for five.
The Purple Eagles return to action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Fairfield for another conference doubleheader. They will look to maintain their fourth spot on their route to a berth in the MAAC tournament. Games are scheduled to begin at 12 noon.
2003 Canisius College Softball - NCAA Box Score
Niagara at Canisius College (Game 1)
Apr 24, 2003 at Buffalo, N.Y. (Demske Sports Complx)
Niagara 8 (5-18,4-3 MAAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Angie Clarke ss.......... 4 1 1 4 0 1 3 2 0
Shannon Mongalise 2b..... 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 1 0
Colleen Larsen 1b........ 4 1 1 1 0 0 5 1 0
Amanda Baluch c.......... 3 0 0 0 1 2 5 0 0
Jill Koch pr............ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jamie Horn cf............ 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Kelly Honsberger dh...... 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
Amy Dulski pr........... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ashleigh Barber p........ 3 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 1
Bradi Cochrane rf........ 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Lisa Hess 3b............. 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
Lauren Dombrowski lf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 26 8 6 7 5 8 21 7 2
Canisius College 1 (11-24,3-4 MAAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jamie Gorczynski lf...... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Natalie Osika 2b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0
Tempie CoelhoFreeman cf.. 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
Rebecca Murphy rf........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Melissa King 1b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0
Ashley Gonnello dh....... 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Mary Burke ss............ 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
Amanda Luukinen 3b....... 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 0
Tessa Paolini c.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 2
Andrea Bunten p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Courtney Piar p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 28 1 7 1 0 5 21 4 6
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Niagara............. 000 010 7 - 8 6 2
Canisius College.... 000 000 1 - 1 7 1
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E - Cochrane(2), Dombrowski(5), Osika(7). DP - Niagara 1, Canisius 1. LOB -
Niagara 2, Canisius 6. 2B - Luukinen(3). HR - Clarke(1), Larsen(1),
Gonnello(1). SB - Gorczynski(12), Freeman(5), Luukinen(1).
Niagara IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Ashleigh Barber..... 7.0 7 1 1 0 5 28 28
Canisius College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Andrea Bunten....... 6.1 5 7 6 5 7 23 28
Courtney Piar....... 0.2 1 1 0 0 1 3 3
Win - Barber (2-9). Loss - Bunten (6-11). Save - None.
PB - Paolini 2(5).
Umpires -
Start: 2:50 pm Time: 1:50 Attendance: 150
2003 Canisius College Softball - NCAA Box Score
Niagara at Canisius College (Game 2)
Apr 24, 2003 at Buffalo, N.Y. (Demske Sports Complx)
Niagara 7 (6-18,5-3 MAAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Angie Clarke ss.......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 5
Shannon Mongalise 2b..... 5 2 3 0 0 0 3 1 0
Colleen Larsen 1b........ 4 1 2 1 0 1 4 0 0
Amanda Baluch c.......... 5 0 1 1 0 0 11 0 1
Jill Koch pr............ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jamie Horn cf............ 4 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 0
Kristina Killian p....... 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Kelly Honsberger ph..... 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
Teagan Bennett p........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Ashleigh Barber dh....... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Bradi Cochrane rf........ 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 0
Lisa Hess 3b............. 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Lauren Dombrowski lf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Totals................... 38 7 12 7 3 6 27 5 8
Canisius College 6 (11-25,3-5 MAAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jamie Gorczynski lf...... 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Natalie Osika 2b......... 5 1 1 0 0 2 3 3 3
Tempie CoelhoFreeman cf.. 4 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
Ashley Gonnello rf....... 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 0
Rebecca Murphy c......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 1
Melissa King 1b.......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 9 0 0
Maria Violante pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Amanda Luukinen 3b....... 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 3 0
Mary Burke ss............ 4 0 1 2 0 0 4 1 0
Courtney Piar p.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1
Jena Jurich p........... 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Totals................... 35 6 7 3 4 10 27 10 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Niagara............. 001 050 001 - 7 12 1
Canisius College.... 500 010 000 - 6 7 2
-------------------------------------------
E - Mongalise(9), Luukinen(13), Burke(17). LOB - Niagara 8, Canisius 6. 2B -
Baluch(8), Barber(4), Freeman(4), Burke(4). HR - Larsen(2). SH - Larsen(3).
SB - Gorczynski 2(14), Freeman(6), Gonnello(3). CS - Mongalise(3).
Niagara IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Kristina Killian.... 5.0 4 6 3 3 5 20 23
Teagan Bennett...... 4.0 3 0 0 1 5 15 16
Canisius College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Courtney Piar....... 4.2 5 5 1 3 4 21 24
Jena Jurich......... 4.1 7 2 1 0 2 17 18
Win - Bennett (2-4). Loss - Jurich (1-4). Save - None.
WP - Killian 3(5). PB - Baluch 3(12).
Umpires -
Start: 4:50 pm Time: 2:40 Attendance: 150
