ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Saturday, April 19, 2008

Widener Takes Doubleheader Win from Elizabethtown

Click here for the game one boxscore
Click here for the game two boxscore

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- After winning a 2-1 pitchers' duel in the opener, Widener University finished off a doubleheader sweep of Elizabethtown College with a 12-5 victory in the nightcap in Commonwealth Conference softball action on Saturday afternoon.

In game one, Steph Connolly broke a 1-1 tie with a fourth-inning double, and Mallory Meyer allowed two hits and survived five walks to earn the victory for Widener.

The Pride took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Meyer led off with a single and scored on a groundout by Krista Cesarine. The Blue Jays tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI double by sophomore Paige Tanner (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro).

After Widener went ahead 2-1 in the fourth on Connolly's double, Elizabethtown had a chance to tie the game in the sixth with two runners on base, but Connolly made a diving catch of a line drive to end the inning.

Meyer (10-6) struck out three to gain the win for Widener, while senior Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) was the hard-luck loser after giving up five hits and striking out two in a complete-game performance.

Game two saw the Blue Jays (11-16 overall, 5-3 Commonwealth jump to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by senior Abbie Merrifield (York, PA/Dallastown) and sophomore Marian Guzik (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield Area) along with a throwing error.

However, the Pride (26-10 overall, 7-1 Commonwealth) struck back for seven runs in the top of the second on an RBI single by pitcher Kim Dougherty, a two-run double by Caitlin Callahan, an RBI single by Stephanie Caulford and three Elizabethtown errors.

Elizabethtown came back with two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Tanner and a bases-loaded walk to junior Lauren Hoover (Reading, PA/Oley Valley) to cut the Widener lead to 7-5.

Widener tacked on a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Dougherty, and put the game away with four runs in the seventh on RBI single by Meyer and Krista Cesarine, and a two-run single by Caulford.

The Pride finished with 16 hits in game two, including 3-for-4 efforts from both Callahan and Dougherty. Four other players had two hits each for Widener, while Caulford drove in three runs.

Tanner paced the Blue Jays in the second game as she went 3-for-4, the lone Elizabethtown player with more than one hit in the contest.

Dougherty (10-2) allowed nine hits and struck out three to pick up the win, while Lee (9-10) took her second loss of the afternoon as she surrendered all 12 runs (nine earned) on 16 hits.

Game one
Widener University 2, Elizabethtown Coll. 1
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Widener University.. 100 100 0 - 2 5 1 (25-10)
Elizabethtown Coll.. 010 000 0 - 1 2 2 (11-15)
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Mallory Meyer and Katie Mitchell; Alex Lee and Abbie Merrifield. WP-Meyer (10-6). LP-Lee (9-9). SO-BB: Meyer 3-5; Lee 2-2.

Game two
Widener University 12, Elizabethtown Coll. 5
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Widener University.. 070 010 4 - 12 16 2 (26-10)
Elizabethtown Coll.. 300 200 0 - 5 9 5 (11-16)
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Kim Dougherty and Katie Mitchell; Alex Lee and Abbie Merrifield. WP-Dougherty (10-2). LP-Lee (9-10). SO-BB: Dougherty 3-2; Lee 1-0.