Still No. 1

T-Birds split series with Oakland

By DAVID DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

SUU stayed atop of the Mid-Con Conference Saturday by rallying in the seventh inning for a 4-3 win in the first game of its doubleheader with Oakland before falling 9-2 in the nightcap and splitting the weekend series.
Jentry Johnson’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh gave SUU a dramatic comeback in the first game, as the T-Birds scored all four of their runs in the final inning for the win.
Stefani Fisco, Desiree Gutierrez, Precious Gallo and Lacee LePrey all singled to start the inning, and Johnson capped the rally with a hard grounder to right field.
Coach Laurel Simmons was impressed with her team’s toughness, and said it was great to see that everyone who had to do something to make the win happen did it.
This team just doesn’t give up, Simmons said. It’s hard to keep focus all the time. It’s hard over a four-game series to keep everyone excited. We have kids out there who are really feeling it, who are taking it personally and that’s good.
LePrey went all seven innings for her ninth win of the season, while Johnson, Anna Leeman and April Cox all had two hits in the contest.
Oakland responded in the second game, pulling ahead with a four-run third inning and cruising to the win.
Nicole Marzano had eight strikeouts in five innings for the win, and the T-Bird bats were cooled after scoring runs in each of the first two innings.
Gallo had two hits and a run out of her leadoff spot while Leeman had an RBI and Cox slapped a home run to left center field.
It wasn’t enough, however, as Oakland piled up runs behind ten hits and six walks. Jennifer Granger and Nina Catanzaro each had three hits in the game for Oakland.
The ‘Birds split the doubleheader Friday as well, dropping the opener 3-1 and using a six-run second inning, highlighted by Johnson’s grand slam, to take game two 7-6.
Leeman knocked in Gallo in the first inning of game one to give SUU the early lead, but the T-Birds managed only one more hit the rest of the way as Julie Anderson threw the complete-game victory for Oakland.
The big second inning helped the T-Birds overcome an early deficit in the second game.
Oakland had scored six runs in the first two innings, but LePrey was able to come on in relief and throw 5 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win.
LePrey was also 2-for-2 at the plate, scoring two runs and knocking two in on a single before Johnson’s blast.
The split left SUU (20-15, 9-2) ahead of Oakland (17-20-1, 8-4) in the conference standings, and the team remained confident after holding their own with last season’s conference champions.
This was good to prepare us for the next couple of weekends, Gallo said. We need to focus on hitting and putting hits