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Hamilton, NY — Leigh Harrell and Ashley Christian shutdown the powerful Â鶹¾«Æ· bats for a second straight day as Army swept its four-game Patriot League series against the Raiders, winning 5-0 and 5-3.
This is the first time since the 2001 season that Â鶹¾«Æ· had suffered a sweep of a Patriot League series. Army is 16-16 overall and 9-3 in the Patriot League, while Â鶹¾«Æ· drops to 25-11 overall and 7-5 in the league.
In the opener, Harrell (8-8) limited Â鶹¾«Æ· to one hit, while striking out none and walking two. She had a no-hitter through four innings before Â鶹¾«Æ·â€™s Dorothy Donaldson (Lakeland, FL) led off the fifth inning with a single up the middle.
Army scored once in the first inning on Lindsey Gerheim’s groundout, and added two more runs in the third on Lindsay March’s two-run single. The Cadets increased their lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning on a RBI triple by Lauren Gobar, and closed out the scoring in the seventh when Joy DePaolis scored on a double steal.
Elena Isaac (Chandler, AZ) (12-4) started for the Raiders giving up four hits in the first five innings, while striking out one. Freshman Kelsey Nordstrom (Salina, KS) threw the final two frames allowing two hits, one run, striking out two and walking one.
In the nightcap, Army jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, before Â鶹¾«Æ· tied the contest in the third inning on Natalie Rawson’s (Palmdale, CA) three-run homer that scored her sister Nichole Rawson (Palmdale, CA) and Donaldson ahead of her. It was her fifth home run of the season, and the 26th of her career.
Army scored the winning run in the fifth inning on Darcy Wilson’s RBI single, and added an insurance run in the sixth inning on Gobar’s RBI single.
Rachel Smith (Annandale, VA) was 3-for-4 for the Raiders, while Donaldson, Natalie Rawson and Erin Hanna (Tucson, AZ) had the other Â鶹¾«Æ· hits.
Christian (5-3) was the winning pitcher for the Cadets, giving up six hits, walking one and striking out one. Kate Howard (7-5) (Wheaton, IL) went the distance for Â鶹¾«Æ· allowing 10 hits, striking out four and walking one.