Sophomore Tory Healy had two home runs vs. Sacred Heart Sunday. |
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Niagara University softball team won its 13th game of the season, one better than all of last season, and finished with a 5-1 record Sunday in the UMBC Classic. The Purple Eagles beat Sacred Heart in five innings in the semifinal game, but then lost to Brown University, 7-2, in the championship.
Niagara (13-7) returns to action April 1 when it opens Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a noon doubleheader vs. Rider University at Niagara Field.
Niagara 10, Sacred Heart 2
Niagara hit five home runs to win its seventh consecutive game and its first five-inning game of the season.
Connecting on diggers were junior Lisa Baker (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca West), freshman Felicia Coffey (Mesa, Ariz.), classmate Jennifer Yee (North Delta, B.C.), sophomore Tory Healy (Las Vegas, Nev.) and junior Ashley Bognar (Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O’Hara).
The Purple Eagles scored five runs in the first inning when Baker and Coffey led off with a singles and Yee then hit a double to right-center to score Baker. Healy then hit her fifth home run of the season to score Coffey and Yee. Bognar then hit the inning second home run to left-center field.
Niagara took a 10-0 lead in the second when freshman Heather Lohrman (Newport Beach, Calif.) singled and scored when Baker singled and then scored on an error by Sacred Heart. Coffey, Yee and Healy then had back-to-back-to-back home runs.
Sacred Heart got four consecutive singles to score two runs in the third.
Sophomore Brooke Viola (Los Alamitos, Calif.) got her second win of the weekend, throwing five innings with five hits and three strikeouts.
Brown 7, Niagara 2
Brown took a 5-0 lead after the top of the fourth before Niagara got on the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the fourth, Niagara cut the lead to 5-2 when Healy singled and scored on junior Nicole Sum’s (Burnaby, B.C.) double to left-center. Senior Shannon Mongalise (Bethel Park, Pa.) then singled in Sum.
Niagara gave up two runs in the seventh when the Bears scored two runs on four singles.
Yee was 3 for 4, Sum 4 for 4 with a double and two RBI and senior Kelly Flaherty (Hastings, N.Y.) collected two hits.
On the mound, sophomore Tiffany McCrory (Albuquerque, N.M.) went two and two-thirds innings and giving up eight hits, two runs and a strikeout. Freshman Katie Gleiser (Cheektowaga, N.Y./Maryvale) threw four and two-thirds innings, giving up eight hits, three earned runs and four strikeouts.
