Thursday, March 31, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. (March 25, 2005) - The Lady Bucs softball squad swept the visiting Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University 3-0 and 3-2 today in non-conference action at Metro Kiwanis Park.  ETSU improves to 15-19 for the year, while the Raiders fall to 6-21 thus far in 2005. 

The Lady Bucs commanded game one from the start, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Dani Spetar (Knoxville, Tenn.) smashed a triple into the right field fence putting herself in scoring position.  ETSU third baseman Lindsay Lane (Erwin, Tenn.) had a sacrifice fly sending Spetar home for her 18^th RBI of the year. 

The bottom of the second inning saw the Bucs' right fielder Briana Knight (Brier, Wa.) send Jessica Lonsinger (Dale City, Va.) home with a single down the third base line adding another run to the scoreboard for ETSU.  The Raider pitching staff managed to hold the Bucs scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when Knight recorded her second RBI of the afternoon sending freshman Amanda Haverman (Kirkwood, Mo.) home for the third ETSU run of the afternoon. 

In the 3-0 game one victory for the Bucs, Lonsinger tallied one hit and scored two runs while Knight recorded two RBI with two hits for the contest.  Courtney Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) allowed just two hits striking out three from the pitching mound, while ETSU relief pitcher Brittney Lehrschall (Leland, N.C.) recorded her second save of the season.

Game two started much the same for ETSU as they scored two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning after a Lane sacrifice scored Sprague from second and a Mary Beth Hazelwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) single sent Spetar home for the Bucs' second run of the inning.  The Lady Bucs pitching staff held the Raider bats silent until the top of the fifth inning when MTSU capitalized on an ETSU error in the field.  The Raiders managed to tie the contest 2-2 as Kayla Sparks and Michelle Wilkes each scored for the visitors. 

The Raider offense threatened again in the top of the sixth inning as they left three runners on base after a bases loaded fly-out sent the ETSU offense to the plate.  With two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning, Janine Sprague (Hillsborough, N.C.) stepped to the plate hitless for the day and smashed a game-winning double into the outfield fence scoring pinch runner Brittany Richardson (Knoxville, Tenn.) from second, giving ETSU the 3-2 victory.

For the Bucs in game two, first baseman Allison Burnette (Ten Mile, Tenn.) tallied two hits, while Sprague, Spetar, Hazelwood, Knight and Stephanie Cope (Maryville, Tenn.) each managed one hit for the contest. 

ETSU returns to Southern Conference action this weekend as they travel to Greenville, S.C. to face the Furman Paladins for a three-game series.  Game one of the series will be played Saturday, April 2 with game time at 1:00 p.m.