LAKEWOOD, NJ-The Georgian Court University softball squad split a pair of contests with Holy Family University Tuesday afternoon with a 5-3 loss in the opener and a 9-1 (5 inn.) blitzing of the Tigers in the finale.
The Lions (9-15, 2-2 CACC) manufactured a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as CF Jess Comiskey led off with a crisp single to left. 2B Rachel Ruch then drew a one-out walk before DP Brooke Hull advanced the runners when she reached on a fielding error by Holy Family 1B Erin Corrado (Fr.-Fair Hill, MD).1B Courtney Cuevas then brought in Comiskey with a RBI base-on-balls.
Holy Family (4-14, 1-1 CACC) would do the same in the top half of third to tie the score at one-all. 2B Samantha Borelli (Fr.-West Berlin, NJ) reached on a one-out infield single in the hole between third base and shortstop followed by a walk to C Deanna Myers (so.-Warminster, PA). A fly ball to right from Corrado would advance Borreli who would come in on a ribbie single to left from 3B Lindsey Iden (So.-Rushland, PA).
The Tigers opened a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth as CF Bianca Robinson (Jr.-Erial, NJ) led off the frame with a slap single to center. RF AnnMarie Dalton (Fr.-Northampton, PA) then reached on a fielding error from GCU 3B Sammie Jo Garofalo before both runners advanced on a passed ball. SS Danielle McDevitt (So.-Williamstown, NJ) then promptly roped a two-run single to left for the go-ahead tallies.
The score increased to 4-1 in the fifth. DP Hayley Brennan (Fr.-Frankford, DE) drew her third walk of the contest to lead off the inning. Valerie Miller (Fr.-Cinnaminson, NJ), who came in to pinch-run, immediately advanced on an Iden bloop single to center and scored on a Diana Sansevera wild pitch.
GCU closed the deficit to 4-2 in the home half of the fifth on a one-out triple to right by Ruch followed by a single to center from DP Brooke Hull. Unfortunately, the guests countered in the seventh by plating a fifth run on a Shauna Vennell (Jr.-Bellmawr, NJ) single to left that scored pinch runner Katherine Cohen (Jr.-Voorhees, NJ). Cohen ran for Brennan after she reached on a single to left-center.
Comiskey started the final frame for the Lions with a double to left-center and advanced to third on a Ruch groundout before making the score 5-3 on a Hull sacrifice fly to right.
Rachael Alligood (Fr.-Levittown, PA) earned the win for the Tigers in the opener (7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) while Sansevera fell to 3-1 on the season for GCU in the complete-game effort (7.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K).
Comiskey went 3-for-4 at the dish with a double and two runs scored while Hull went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI for Georgian Court.
Both Iden (2-for-3, RBI) and Robinson (2-for-4, R) enjoyed multi-hit efforts for the Tigers while McDevitt (1-for-3) tallied two RBI.
The Lions had the nightcap comfortably in hand right from the start as they plated three in the first, four in the second and another two in the fourth and cruised to the 9-1 five-inning triumph.
GCU jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in its first at bat with RBI's from Hull (double), C Kelsey Cutler (groundout) and 1B Courtney Cuevas (double).
The Tigers made it 3-1 in the second on an RBI double from Iden, but the Lions added a four-spot in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of a Holy Family fielding error (Cohen), a Ruch double and another error by the Tigers (Robinson).
Georgian Court's final two runs lit the scoreboard in the 4th inning on another two-bagger from Ruch, this of the two-RBI kind.
Shannon Dukes (2-5) earned her second victory of the year for Georgian Court, allowing the lone run on two hits, a walk and five K's. Victoria Reuscher (Fr.-Chetlenham, PA) was saddled with the loss (1.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER).
Ruch went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Garofalo (2-for-3, 3 R, RBI) and Hull (2-for-3, 2 RBI, R).
Georgian Court is off until Saturday when they will travel to arch-rival Caldwell College for a 1PM twin-bill.
