CASTLETON, Vt. - The Plymouth State University
softball team improved its record to 16-4 overall Tuesday
afternoon, sweeping a non-conference doubleheader from Castleton
State College. The Panthers needed eight innings to win the
opener, 2-0, and came back to take the nightcap, 5-3.
The 16-4 record is the most wins for PSU in five seasons, since the
2003 team finished with a program-best 30-9 mark. Castleton
State dropped its third and fourth in a row and fell to 3-8.
The first game was a pitchers' duel between PSU sophomore
Kat Roland (Norton, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) and
CSC senior Angie Carpenter (Sharon, Vt.), who both threw shutout
ball for seven innings. The only runs of the game came in the top
of the eighth; PSU junior Leanne Barry (Auburn,
N.H.) started the inning at second base on the tiebreaker rule, and
with one out, sophomore Kay LaBrie (Somersworth,
N.H.) cracked a two-run home run, her third of the season.
Roland shut down the Spartans in the bottom of the eighth to record
her third shutout of the season and improve her record to
7-1. She struck out nine batters while allowing just six hits
and a walk in eight innings. Carpenter was the tough-luck
loser for Castleton after allowing just six hits and a walk and one
earned run in eight innings while fanning seven.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the nightcap on a second-inning
solo home run by sophomore Sammi Romano (Kingston,
N.H.), her second of the season. PSU extended the lead with
three runs in the fourth inning, as senior Lori
Pettengill (Holderness, N.H.) and junior Michelle
Kelly (Hill, N.H.) hit back-to-back doubles and freshman
Andrea Pydynkowski (Danvers, Mass.) smacked a
two-run homer, her second of the season. Pettengill finished
the game 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Sophomore pitcher Beth Moretti (Woonsocket, R.I.)
started for PSU and was strong for five shutout innings, allowing
no hits, five walks and a hit-batter. When the first two
batters in the sixth inning reached base on a single and a walk,
junior Courtney MacFarland (Derry, N.H.) came on
to pitch the final two innings and preserve the win for the
Panthers.
PSU's game scheduled for Thursday at Lyndon State has been moved to
Apr. 20, due to unplayable field conditions. The Panthers are
slated to return to the diamond Saturday with a Little East
Conference twinbill at Western Connecticut State University (1:00
p.m.)
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