From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team set a program record with a doubleheader sweep of New York University on Saturday at the College of Staten Island Softball Complex in Staten Island, New York.
The seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team set a program record with a doubleheader sweep of New York University on Saturday at the College of Staten Island Softball Complex in Staten Island, New York. The Spartans won the opener 7-0 and prevailed 3-2 in the series finale to set a program record with their 16th consecutive victory.
CWRU improved to 31-2 overall and completed University Athletic Association play with a record of 17-2. The 17 wins are the most for the program in UAA play since the introduction of site play in 2017, and the 31 total wins are the most by a Spartan squad since the 2018 team won a program record 38 games. Case Western Reserve won the UAA title by four and a half games for the school's second consecutive conference championship.
The Violets fell to 17-19 overall and 6-14 in conference play, placing fifth in the league standings.
Game 1: #7 CWRU 7, NYU 0
Sophomore pitcher Lexi Miskey (19-0) was dominant in the circle for the Spartans in the first game, not allowing a hit over the first five innings to earn her 19th win of the season. Miskey completed six innings, allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out six batters. Junior pitcher Jenna Jaklich completed the shutout, the 11th of the season and eighth in conference play for CWRU, with a scoreless seventh inning, allowing just one walk while adding a strikeout.
Junior infielder KaiLi Gross went two-for-three with a walk at the plate in the contest, scoring twice, driving in a run, and stealing two bases. Senior infielder Amanda Riely had her sixth three-hit game of the season, while also driving in a pair of runs, and first-year infielder Elizabeth Berry had two hits and scored twice.
CWRU opened the scoring in the first inning, when Riely drove in Gross with a one-out single up the middle. Gross started the game with a walk and stole second to reach scoring position. In the second inning, junior outfielder Stevie Rieger plated Berry with a two-out double to make the score 2-0.
After two scoreless frames, the Spartans struck for two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Berry led off the inning with a double and scored on a single by Gross. The junior shortstop crossed the plate again on a hit by Riely, this time a two-out double to put Case Western Reserve ahead 4-0. First-year outfielder Brianna Landers scored the fifth run of the game on an error in the sixth inning, and, later in the inning, Berry drove in a run with a single. CWRU completed its scoring in the final inning with a double steal, as junior outfielder Kela Jagoda, who swiped two bases in the game, crossed the plate while Riely took second base.
Game 2: #7 CWRU 3, NYU 2
Berry drove in all three Spartan runs in the second game of the doubleheader, setting a career-high with three RBIs and collecting her ninth multi-hit game of the season. Jagoda stole two bases for the second consecutive contest to increase her season total to 24, one behind Gross's team leading 25 steals.
After a scoreless first inning, Berry broke the deadlock with a one-out single in the second, driving in first-year catcher Anna Gobeyn. Gobeyn led off the inning with her first career triple, one of two hits in the game for the Spartan backstop. In the bottom of the next inning, the visitors turned a double play with runners at the corners to maintain their one-run lead.
Rieger doubled the CWRU lead in the fourth inning, scoring on a two-out single by Berry.
After 25 straight scoreless innings to start the series, the Violets finally plated a run against the Spartans in the fifth inning, scoring on a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Sophomore pitcher Kylie Hosey ended the threat with an inning-ending flyout to keep Case Western Reserve ahead after five innings. Hosey (11-2) earned the win by scattering eight hits and a walk over five innings. She allowed just one earned run and struck out four batters.
Gobeyn led off the sixth inning with a single and was replaced on the bases by Miskey. After stealing second base and advancing to third on an infield single, the sophomore pitcher scored a key insurance run on a groundout by Berry to make the score 3-1.
Miskey entered the circle in the bottom of the frame, working around a two-out walk to preserve the two-run lead. NYU started the bottom of the seventh inning with a single and a walk, with both runners reaching scoring position following a groundout. A single by Mandi Hand cut the NYU deficit to just one and put the winning run on base. Following a groundout that advanced both runners to scoring position, Miskey ended the game with a swinging strikeout to complete the four-game sweep.
The sophomore pitcher earned her first save of the season and the third of her career by allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out two batters in two innings. This season, Miskey has 158 strikeouts in 111 and one-third innings, needing just one strikeout to tie herself for third in a single season in program history. Former Spartan Illissa Hamilton holds the program record with 184 strikeouts, set during the 2018 campaign.
CWRU outscored its opponents 112-38 across 19 UAA contests, boasting a 1.93 earned run average and 126 strikeouts in 123 and one-third innings.