Sunday, March 21, 2004
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The longer Sarah Pauly pitches, the more opposing
batters are finding out why she is arguably one of the top 10
pitchers in the country.
Pauly had what could be one of the best games of her career,
setting a new Texas A&M-Corpus Christi record with 19
strikeouts while tossing a no-hitter, her fourth for her career as
an Islander. After the no-hit performance, she garnered a save in
the second game, pitching two and two thirds innings, striking out
seven without allowing a hit.
The Islanders used the long ball as well as timely pitching to take
their second consecutive sweep over a Big South Conference
opponent. The Islanders took the first game 1-0 and turned around
to take a 5-1 victory in the second.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished league play going 9-3,
playing all 12 games in six consecutive days.
Freshman shortstop Megan Hansen had the big bat of the day, hitting
two homeruns over the left field fence, driving in a total of three
RBI on the day.
Hansen's towering homerun in the top of the first inning of the
first game would be all the Islanders would need to take the first
game of the sweep. Hansen's two round-trippers is a team-leading
eight for the Islanders.
Pauly started off the game by striking out the first seven batters
and didn't allow a base runner until she walked Kristin DeJong in
the bottom of the second inning. After the walk, she would go on to
strikeout seven consecutive batters before Gertie Jeffries hit a
slow roller back to Pauly to stop the strikeout streak.
Liberty had just four base runners the entire game, and only
threatened in the bottom of the third when they had runners on
second and third with two outs, but were unable to drive in the run
home.
DeJong drew a one-out walk in the inning and was moved to second on
a fielder's choice by Tiffany Johnson, who was safe at first. Both
runners advanced a base after a sacrifice bunt by Jeffries for the
second out of the inning.
The Flames would not see another runner reach second base the rest
of the game.
Hansen's homerun in the first was Liberty pitcher Sarah Swor's only
mistake as she allowed just three hits in the game while striking
out five Islander batters.
In the second game, the Islanders used the big bat once again as
Christy Cortez hit her third homerun of the season over the left
field fence to give the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi an early 1-0
lead in the top of the third inning.
The Islanders would pour on two more runs in the fourth as Michelle
Petree doubled up the middle to score Jennifer Golden and Rachel
Kitchens. Golden led off the inning with a base hit to left field,
followed by a Lindsey Maxey walk. Kitchens then reached first on a
fielder's choice, advancing Golden to third, while Maxey was forced
out at second for the first out of the inning. Kitchens stole
second before Petree came up with double up the middle.
The Flames closed the gap with a run in the bottom of the fourth
when Lauren Hahn homered to left to score Liberty's only run of the
day. The long ball was only one of four hits starter Dani Damel
would give up in the victory.
Damel pitched four and a third inning, striking out three, while
allowing just one run. She improved to 6-5 on the year, while Pauly
picked up her fifth save of the season.
The Islanders would ride the bat of Hansen once again as she hit a
two-run shot in the top of the seventh, driving in Cortez to give
the Islanders a 5-1 lead they would not relinquish.
The Islanders gathered a total of 12 hits in the two-game sweep,
including nine in the second game. Golden finished the game with
six hits in eight plate appearances, while Cortez picked up four
hits.
After playing 12 straight games, the Islanders will finally get a
break, taking 11 days off before hosting Texas Southern at Islander
Field for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
