Feb. 20, 2011

Rutgers Box Score
UC Riverside Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - LMU used a combination of power and pitching to sweep a pair of Sunday games on the final day of the aTen Construction Tournament at Amy S. Harrison Field in Riverside, Calif. The Lion (5-4), who finished the weekend with a 4-1 record, got two home runs from junior Kelly Sarginson to defeat Rutgers 7-4 in the morning, then saw sophomore Dana Waldusky toss a complete-game two-hitter for a 4-0 afternoon victory over hosts UC Riverside.

LMU 7, Rutgers 4
Two days after pounding out a season-high 13 hits and nine runs in a 9-2 win over Rutgers (0-4), the Lions kept their bats hot with 13 more hits, highlighted by Sarginson's 2-for-3, three-RBI effort. Sophomore Olivia Alvarez and senior Amy Charpentier each collected three hits, with Charpentier also driving in three runs, as the Lions scored three runs in the late innings to pull away from a 4-4 tie.

Sarginson's first homer of the game, and second of the season, got the Lions on the board as she drove a two-out pitch over the centerfield fence in the first inning to stake the Lions to an early 2-0 led.

After Rutgers pulled a run back but left the bases loaded in the second, the Lions made it 4-1 in the top of the third on Charpentier's two-run single. Junior Sam Fischer had led off the inning with her team-leading third double of the season, Sarginson walked and the two were bunted into scoring position. Charpentier then knocked them both in with a two-out single up the middle.

Rutgers would pull level in the bottom of the frame with three runs to chase Waldusky, highlighted by Jennifer Harabedian's two-run single.

Alvarez and Charpentier would be in the thick of things as LMU took the lead for good in the fifth. Both singled with one out and freshman Samantha Nelson, who had two hits herself after moving from the leadoff spot to ninth in the order, delivered the go-ahead single to left.

Sarginson, who has driven in all of her team-leading nine RBI with two outs, provided an insurance run with a solo shot to left in the sixth. A walk and a single by Alvarez extended the inning for Charpentier, who made it 7-4 with a run-scoring single to right center.

Sophomore Molly Medeiros improved to 2-1 on the year with 4 1/3 innings of five-hit scoreless relief of Waldusky. Twelve of LMU's 13 hits came from the quartet of Sarginson, Alvarez, Charpentier, and Nelson.

LMU 4, UC Riverside 0
As much as game one was about the LMU bats, game two was all about the right arm of Waldusky, who bounced back from her morning no-decision with her best performance of the season. The only hits that Waldusky conceded were singles in the third and fifth and only one Highlander runner made it as far as third base as Waldusky (2-2) gave up two hits, two walks, and struck out seven.

Waldusky would get all the run support she would need in the fourth as the Lions pushed across four runs thanks to three hits and a pair of UCR (3-6) errors. Fischer, who extended her hitting streak to seven games with a 3-for-4 performance, led off with a single and junior Kylie Ahlo beat out a single to first. Back-to-back Highlander errors brought home Fischer with the game's first run before sophomore Skylar Segura, making her first start of the season, delivered the game's biggest blow with a two-run single to left.

LMU would push across its fourth run in the seventh as singles by Segura and sophomore Danielle Smith set the table for Fischer to drive in her fifth run of the season with a single to left.

Above .500 for the first time this season, LMU returns to the Inland Empire next weekend for five games at the Cathedral City Classic, including three against top-25 opponents. The Lions will face #3 Tennessee at 8 p.m. on Friday, then go up against #13 Texas at 1 p.m. and Indiana at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The weekend concludes Sunday with back-to-back contests against #4 Arizona and UC Santa Barbara, beginning at 1 p.m.