April 9, 2009
Philadelphia, PA - Erica Vile went two for six on the afternoon but both of her hits were home runs which accounted for four runs batted in to help propel the La Salle University Explorers to a double header sweep over George Washington in Atlantic 10 softball action on Friday afternoon.
In the first game Shannon Skomorucha hit her first official home run of the season, driving in Laura Gallagher who was running for D.J. Guinn with one out in the bottom of the second. The run gave the Explorers a 2-0 edge. Skomorucha had previously hit a home run against Penn, but it was not counted when the game was stopped in the third inning due to rain.
The Colonials got one of the runs back when they capitalized on two Explorer errors in the fifth inning which led to Tori Sensi singling home Krissy Mackiewicz to make the score 2-1.
Vile was able to blow the game open with her three-run home run in the sixth which started when Gina Massaro reached on a two-base error off of a misplayed ball by left fielder Lauran Wilson. Mary Pat Conville put two runners in scoring position after her double to left field advanced Massaro to third. With one out Vile drove the ball well over the right field fence to give the Explorers a 5-1 lead.
GW came within three runs when Sensi homered with two outs in the top of the seventh to make it 5-2. Pitcher Massaro (2-8) got Katie Terazas to ground out to give the Explorers the win and earn her third win of the season while allowing only one earned run.
Amanda Gabriel (6-13) suffered the loss allowing six hits and four earned runs in six innings.
In the second game the Colonials broke a scoreless tie with a three-hit inning in the fourth but scored their lone run on a passed ball and left three runners on base to end the inning.
The Explorers quickly evened the score when Vile hit her second shot of the day - a solo shot that cleared the centerfield fence.
It took only one inning for the Explorers to score the decisive run when Skamoroucha doubled to lead off the fifth and was advanced to third on a sacrifice by Breanna DiTommasso. One batter later Alicia Dela Rosa singled her home to make the score 2-1.
D.J. Guinn gave up four hits and one unearned run in six innings to improve to 3-8 on the season. Massaro came in to slam the door with one strong inning of work to earn her first save.
The Explorers improved to 5-20 on the season but are now 4-6 in Atlantic 10 play while George Washington goes to 11-24 and 3-7 in A-10 play.
The Explorers return to action on Saturday with a double-header at A-10 foe Saint Bonaventure beginning at 12:00 PM.
