ORANGEBURG, South Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team ended their seven game road trip over spring break by sweeping the South Carolina State University Bulldogs on Thursday (March 21) with scores of 9-0 and 7-3.
"It's great to end this spring break trip with a sweep," head coach Karla Powell said. "Our pitchers did great today and we were able to back them up with some great offense."
Junior LeAnn Gingrich (Landisburg, PA) picked up the first win of her collegiate career inside the circle in game one. She pitched a complete game and surrendered just three hits and zero runs. The Shore's offense produced runs in five different innings including each of the last four in the contest.
The Hawks got their first run in the opening inning without getting a hit. Senior Daeshia Jones (Teaneck, NJ) drew a walk and stole a base to open the game. After a groundout advanced Jones to third, sophomore Stephanie Huff (Montoursville, PA) drew a walk and a passed ball allowed Jones to score.
In the third inning, Maryland Eastern Shore got their second run of the game. Freshman Anissa Derifield (Woodbridge, VA) had an RBI groundout to the shortstop to score fellow freshman Rachel Gingrich (Landisburg, PA).
The Hawks begin to break the game open in the fourth inning. Jones hit a double to center field to score junior Allison Gingrich (Landisburg, PA). Rachel Gingrich singled after that to bring Jones in to score and make the score 4-0.
In the fifth, seniors Sara Jo Whaley (Laurel, DE) and Kiana Peterson (Willingboro, NJ) led off the inning with singles. Two batters later, an error allowed Whaley to come in to score and later in the at-bat a wild pitch got Peterson across home plate. Jones would then groundout to the shortstop and Allison Gingrich scored.
Huff singled to start the sixth. Sophomore Jordan Robinson (Gaithersburg, MD) was brought in to pinch run and stole a base. Senior Breana Florez (Houston, TX) hit a single up the middle to put runners on the corners and a wild pitch to Derifield would bring Robinson in to score. Whaley would then fly out into a double play but Florez would still score on the play to give the Hawks a 9-0 lead. The game would end after six innings.
In game two, sophomore Nasya Goodman (Willingboro, NJ) pitched a complete game with a season high eight strikeouts. All three runs she gave up came in the first inning.
The Hawks scored for the second straight game in the first inning as Huff hit an RBI groundout to the second baseman to score Rachel Gingrich.
In the third inning, the Hawks regained the lead. Freshman Jordan Kelly (Bridgeton, NJ) drew a bases loaded walk to score the first run of the inning. Two batters later, Florez scored on a passed ball to tie the game at three. After Peterson drew a walk, senior Heidi Smith (Odenton, MD) was hit by a pitch that allowed Kelly to score and make it a 4-3 game.
Huff and Florez each scored on passed balls in the fourth inning to make the Eastern Shore lead 6-3. Huff would double in the sixth to bring Rachel Gingrich home to score as the scoring would finish there for the game at 7-3.
The Shore had 14 hits and drew 19 walks with only three strikeouts total over the two game sweep.
Maryland Eastern Shore will open their conference slate of games this weekend (March 23-24) as they host Howard.
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
