Softball | Hawks dominate GW

Before being rained out of a doubleheader on Sunday, the Saint Joseph's softball team won it's three previous games, beating Lafayette by a score of 4-1 last Wednesday and taking two from George Washington on Friday and Saturday by scores of 3-0 and 1-0, respectively.

On Wednesday, the Hawks (21-14, 5-5 A-10) traveled to Drexel's Vidas Field to play a home game against Lafayette (13-27). In the bottom of the first inning, St. Joe's was able to get the first run of the game. With an RBI single to left field by Brooke Darreff, '10, Dana Parks, '13, was able to score and give St. Joe's a 1-0 lead.

Small ball continued to help the Hawks in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Monica Aguilar, '12, reached second base on a wild pitch, Rochelle Christman, '13, doubled to right-center field, which allowed Aguilar to score. The next batter, Deanna Stinner, '13, hit a single that then allowed Christman to score to make it 3-0 Hawks. With Stinner on second, Alaina Loguidice, '12, got her own RBI on a single to center field, giving the Hawks a 4-0 advantage.

That was all Erin Gallagher, '12, needed to hold the lead. Gallagher flirted with her second no-hitter of the season, allowing the only hit of the game to come in the top of the seventh inning. Despite the hit, she still threw a complete game allowing one unearned run on one hit while striking out five. Thanks to Gallagher's outstanding effort, St. Joe's held on to win by a score of 4-1.

On Friday, the Hawks traveled to Villanova University to kick off a four-game series against George Washington. In this game, the Hawks again combined solid offense with another elite performance from Gallagher to get the 3-0 victory.

In the same fashion as the Lafayette game, the Hawks struck early. In the bottom of the first, Bernadette Moran, '12, started the offense with an RBI double to center field. Moran would later come around to score on an RBI single by Aguilar to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead at the end of the first inning. St. Joe's would later add to its lead in the bottom of the third. With two outs and Moran at third base, Aguilar earned her second RBI of the day with a single to left field.

With the lead in hand, Gallagher again went to work. This time, she threw a complete game shutout on two hits and three walks while adding 10 strikeouts to earn her 16th win on the season, a 3-0 victory over the Colonials (5-33, 2-12 A-10).

Gallagher would again shine on Saturday, this time, with only one supporting run. Despite the best efforts of George Washington, no one could stop Gallagher's torrid pace, and the Hawks earned a 1-0 victory.

The only offense of the game came on a home run by Brooke Darreff, '10, to lead off the fourth inning. That's all Gallagher would need, however, as she locked down the Colonials once again for another complete game shutout, her 17th win on the year, allowing two hits while walking one and striking out 10.

Thanks to the looming precipitation on Sunday, the final two games of the series were cancelled and will not be made up. The Hawks will play a doubleheader against Temple on Tuesday and then will face La Salle this weekend for a two-game series.