PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The La Roche University softball team went 1-1 against Alfred State Saturday afternoon in the team's first ever matchup with the Pioneers. Devan Smith drilled a walk-off single in game one to elevate LRU to a 3-2 victory. Alfred State took advantage of La Roche's season-high 10 errors in game two and won 13-10.
The Pioneers were 0-10 in conference play heading into today's doubleheader. Now 5-7 overall and 5-5 in conference play, the Redhawks sit at fourth place in the AMCC standings.
Game One - La Roche 3, Alfred State 2
Pitching
Alexa Young pitched her seventh complete game of the season and picked up her third win. In 7.0 innings, Young notched four strikeouts, a walk and no earned runs. Smith then advanced two bases on an error by the left fielder. The next play, Alexis Myers drove in Smith on an RBI single to right to give the Redhawks a 2-1 lead.
How it Happened
The Pioneers got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second on an infield error.
Four and half innings later, LRU finally scored in the bottom of the sixth when Devan Smith hit an RBI-single to left field to score Ashtin Hoover. Smith then advanced two bases on an error by the left fielder. The next play, Alexis Myers drove in Smith on an RBI single to right to give the Redhawks a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the seventh, ASC tied the game on a groundout and an error by the catcher.
Then in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, the bases loaded and 0-2 count, Smith drilled a hard hit ball into shallow right field to win the game.
Inside the Box Score
Smith, Hoover and Kelly Denk all went 2-4 at the plate. Smith had a game-high two RBI.
Lyndsi Urani hit her second double of the season in the bottom of the fourth.
Alfred State left ten runners on base while La Roche left four.
As a unit, LRU went 10-30 (.333) at the plate.
Game Two - La Roche 10, Alfred State 13
Pitching
Lyndsi Urani got the start in game two. In 3.0 innings, she struckout two batters, walked one and recorded two earned runs.
Ashtin Hoover came in to relieve Urani. Hoover went 2.0 innings and gave up no earned runs. Alexa Young closed out the game and went 2.0 innings, giving up an earned run.
How it Happened
Alfred State scored their first two runs on two errors to take an early 2-0 lead. The Pioneers added to their lead on a ground out and single to left center to go up 4-0 in the top of the first. ASC would lead for the duration of the contest.
In the bottom of the first, Devan Smith looped a ball down the line that got past the left fielder as she notched a two-run inside-the-park homerun to make it 4-2.
Over the next two innings, Alfred State would scored another six runs to take a 10-2 lead.
The Redhawks scored four runs in the bottom of the third to make things interesting. Devan Smith hit a lead-off triple to start the inning. Two batters later, Lyndsi Urani drove in Smith on a groundout. Then, Alexis Myers scored on a wild pitch. Meghan Haynes and Abby Hoffman then hit back-to-back singles to set up Kylee Greig who hit an RBI single to center field. Ashtin Hoover capped off the inning with an RBI walk. LRU trailed 10-6.
Alfred State tampered the Redhawks momentum with two more runs in the top of the fourth, both scored on errors by La Roche.
Brandi Clyde doubled to right center in the bottom of the fourth to score Urani.
In the bottom of the seventh, Abby Hoffman reached on an error to score Meghan Haynes. Smith knocked in two more runs with an RBI double to left center.
Inside the Box Score
The Redhawks committed a season-high 10 errors in the field. LRU allowed 10 unearned runs.
Devan Smith went 3-5 with a double, a triple and a homerun. She was just a single away from hitting for the cycle, but Smith did notch her first career HR.
Four other Redhawks notched two hits (Meghan Haynes, Lyndsi Urani, Alexis Myers and Kelly Denk.
LRU actually hit better than the Pioneers. La Roche went 14-37 (.378) and Alfred State went 11-38 (.289)
Up Next
La Roche will play another conference doubleheader tomorrow, Sunday April 25th against Hilbert. Game one is set to start at 1:00 p.m.
