By Maxime Devillaz
Assistant Sports Editor
Having climbed one more spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association ranking from last week, the no. 22 women’s Softball team continued their winning streak in their two East Coast Conference double-headers on April 3, and April 5.
On Thursday, April 3, the visitors from St. Thomas Aquinas College earned the first point of game one, but did not manage to hold on to it very long. Once senior batter Nicole Hagenah blasted one ball over the fence, the Pioneers took over the game. With a continuous flow from Hagenah, the runners were able to reach base after base to gain an advantage over STAC.
In the limelight, freshman Melissa Peet hit her first collegiate homerun. The Spartans from STAC tried to force back into the game, but to no avail. Finally, the Pioneers, with Hagenah at peak, swept the first game, 6-3.
In the nightcap game, the Green and Gold exploded from the start, and gained a handful of runs in the first inning. Again, Hagenah had a perfect run, as she was counted for a three-for-three game, which led to two runners-batted-in (RBI’s); Hagenah hit safely, and the on- base runner was able to make it to home plate.
After two innings, LIU Post was up 6-0, and despite an attempt in the third, St. Thomas Aquinas never came close to advancing. The Pioneers won the second pitch of the day comfortably, totaling out STAC 14-4.
On Saturday, April 5, the Pioneers hit the road to face Queens College in Flushing, N.Y. It seemed as if the short drive was not fully out of their system when the game started, since the QC Knights took advantage of the situation. In an explosive manner, the opponents from Queens acted as kings of the battlefield, as they fought themselves up to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
For the first time this season, the visitors’ perfect record was at stake. However, the Green Machine woke up, and turned the game around. In the end, the Pioneers swept the Knights off the feet in the opening clash, with a score of 6-4.
The second battle of the day differed very much from the opener. It was all about the individual duel between the pitchers, since both teams had a hard time scoring to begin with. Not until the fourth inning did Post score their first point, but thereafter, the Pioneers were unstoppable, scoring six runs in a row. The final count shone 6-1 on the score- board, and the Green and Gold remains unbeatable in the East Coast Conference so far.
The Pioneers will hit the road again to face Mercy College in a double-header in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., on April 12. The opener is sched- uled for 2 p.m.
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