Army Sweeps Lafayette at Home

Saturday, April 16

West Point, NY

10 a.m.

Army West Point

13-23, 0

Lafayette College

6-26, 0

Lafayette

ARMY

Army Sweeps Lafayette at Home

April 16, 2022 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WEST POINT, N.Y. --- Army West Point Softball (14-23, 5-1) swept Lafayette (6-27, 1-10) in the Saturday doubleheader winning the first game in walk off fashion, 4-3, and rallied past the Leopards 3-1 in game two, at the Softball Complex.

Maddie Wilkes led the Black Knights at the plate with two doubles, three RBI, one home run, and two runs. Jolie Duong (6-8) and Emily Iannotti (6-2) each picked up wins in the circle for the Black Knights. Duong tossed seven strikeouts in eight innings of work.

Game 1

The first game was a battle of the pitchers. Lafayette got on the board first in the top of the second off a fielder's choice. After the run, Duong retired the next eight batters she faced keeping the Leopards off the board for three innings.

Army had trouble at the plate, only recording one hit during the first five innings. Kayla Edwards fired off the lone hit in the bottom of the first but was left on base.

In the top of the sixth Lafayette took advantage of Army's errors on the field scoring two runs of two hits and two errors to jump to a 3-0 lead.

Duong rallied the Cadets in the bottom of the sixth with a base hit down the left-field line. Edwards kept the momentum going with a double to right center, moving runners into scoring position. With one out and two on, Leila Hurst hit a sacrifice fly out to right field. Duong tagged up and sprinted home, scoring the first run for the Black Knights. Wilkes helped drive in another run with a double to put Army within one of Lafayette, 3-2. Army took advantage of a fielding error by Lafayette to plate one more run in the frame, tying the game at 3-3.

Duong and the defense took care of business in the top of the seventh and eighth retiring six straight batters. In the bottom of the eighth, Wilkes hit her second double of the game to get a runner on base for the Black Knights. Lauren Little laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her teammate to third base. Madi Gilmore took the batter's box with the winning run 60 feet from the plate. She launched the ball to right fielder's glove giving Wilkes enough time to tag up and cross home plate. Army secured the 4-3 extra innings win over Lafayette.

Game 2

Iannotti went to work in the top half of the first inning, retiring the first three batters. Maaika Dones took the defensive momentum into the bottom of the first hitting a leadoff double down the right field line. She made her way to third and scored off a throwing error by Lafayette, giving Army the 1-0 lead.

The Leopards answered back in the top of the second by scoring one run off two hits and an error. It was a battle of the pitchers for the next two innings as neither team scored.

Army broke the silence in the bottom of the fifth scoring two runs on two hits. Hurst recorded a two-out base hit to get a runner aboard for the Black Knights. The next batter up was Wilkes, who battled at the plate. Wilkes drew a full count before firing off a home run to left center lifting Army to a 3-1 lead.

The Leopards battled but the Black Knights were able to keep them off the board to secure the 3-1 win for the doubleheader sweep.

Inside the Box Score

Army finished the day with four doubles.
Wilkes finished with a .429 batting average and a 1.143 slugging percentage.
Army turned one double play.

Up Next
Army will face Lafayette in a single game on Sunday, April 17, at 12 p.m. to close out the weekend series.

Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point softball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter @ArmyWP_Softball, on Instagram @armywp_softball, and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.