Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Iona
Softball Comes Up Short Against Iona
April 15, 2011 | Softball
Box Score
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Senior right-hander Alyssa Maiese nipped Army's seventh-inning rally as Iona held on for a 2-1 non-league softball win over the Black Knights Thursday afternoon at the Army Softball Complex. The Gaels (11-16) snapped loose from a four-game losing streak and Army fell to 18-17.
Winning pitcher Sarah Jackson (6-6) threw a one-hit shutout and struck out eight of the 15 batters she faced over the first four innings before turning over the circle to Maiese with the Gaels holding a 2-0 lead after plating single run in the second and third innings.
Army only once advanced a runner into scoring position against Jackson when she issued a walk to leadoff batter Reanna Johnson followed by a one-out bunt hit to Amanda Nguyen in the bottom of the third inning. Jackson got out safely on back-to-back infield foul ball popups.
Maiese, picking up the save, struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth inning before Army's offense was able to muster three hits getting runners into scoring position over the next frames. After Nguyen beat out her second bunt, of the game to lead off the sixth, she was thrown out at second on April Ortenzo's fielder's choice. Ortenzo moved to second on Alex Reynolds' sacrifice bunt and third on a passed ball before Maiese got out safely on a groundout to the second baseman.
After striking out the first batter in the seventh, Maiese was touched for back-to-back hits along sandwiched around a wild pitch as Army averted the shutout but came up short of producing the tying run. Rachaeal Duval, who smacked a hit that got past the second baseman, moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. She was delivered when designated player Marina Northup took a 2-2 pitch and ripped a double to left center field for her first two-bagger of the season. Maiese then shut the door on the Black Knights with a strikeout, her fourth of the game, and a ground out to the third baseman.
After being touched for two runs early in the game, Army freshman hurler Haley Pypes (7-8) threw shutout ball over the final four frames. She scattered six hits over that span and did not let a runner reach third in stranding four as the Black Knights recorded double plays in the fifth and sixth innings to end those threats. With two outs in the seventh, Pypes yielded a single along with with a wild pitch followed by a strikeout, her fifth of the game.
Army returns to the road this weekend for a Patriot League series against Lafayette. The Black Knights, 2-6, in the league are in fourth place with the Leopards in sixth place with an 0-8 mark. after being swept by Lehigh.
