Fitchburg State Drops A Pair On Day Three

Falcons edged by Lakeland, 2-1; suffer 9-1 setback to Saint Norbert

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 12, 2013) – The Fitchburg State softball team fell twice on day three of its Kissimmee, Florida trip, falling 2-1 to Lakeland College in game one and 9-0 to Saint Norbert in game two.

Lakeland 2, Fitchburg State 1 (Game 1)

In the first of the afternoon, Lakeland College edged Fitchburg State, 2-1 in eight innings as freshman Ashley Hough (Rapid River, Mich./Rapid River) drove home senior Jenny LaLuzeme (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Bay Port) who was placed on second base via the international tie breaker rule.

Following five scoreless innings, the Muskies final opened the scoring in the top of the sixth as Hough led off the inning with a single and eventually came around to score the first run of the contest on an RBI single by junior Brittany Jurek (Gladstone, Mich./Gladstone) to put Lakeland up 1-0.

Fitchburg State would tie the score 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh frame as sophomore Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) came around to score, taking advantage of a Muskies miscue. Freshman Hailey Thibault (Swansea, Mass./Joseph Case) led off the inning with a single before being lifted for Flaherty.

Hough paced the Lakeland offense, hitting 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run score, while Jurek finished with one base hit and the other Muskie RBI. For Fitchburg State, Thibault, Marissa Gemma (Leominster, Mass./Leominster), Shannon Fitzgerald (Blackstone, Mass./Blackstone Regional) and Katelyn Fitzgerald (Fitchburg, Mass./Saint Bernards) all registered one hit apiece.

In the circle, junior Kerry Alcott (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) suffered the setback for the Falcons, yielding two runs on five hits with six K's in the complete game effort, while senior Erin Henk (Hoopeston, Ill./Hooperston) earn the victory for Lakeland, allowing one run on four hits in eight innings of work.

Saint Norbert 9, Fitchburg State 1 (Game 2)

In game two, Saint Norbert erupted for nine runs on 11 hits as the Green Knights defeated Fitchburg State by the score of 9-1.

Saint Norbert opened the scoring in the second inning as junior Abby Gildernick (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) drove home sophomore Jessica DeMeuse (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sevastopol) with a RBI base knock. The Green Knights plated two more runs in the following inning on  a Falcon miscue and an RBI single by senior Morgan Buboltz (Brillion, Wis./Brillion) to take a 3-0 advantage after three innings of play.

Fitchburg State cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning as Gemma came around to score on a run scoring single off the bat of sophomore Amanda Whitelaw (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central). Before Saint Norbert secured its third victory of the spring by scoring four runs in the fifth stanza, keyed by a pair of two run homeruns from DeMeuse and freshman Alex Kohnle (Tisch Mills, Wis./Kewaunee) en-route to a 9-1 victory

The Falcon offense was led by Whitelaw, posting a  pair of singles with one RBI, while Gemma, K. Fitzgerald, Ashley Forgues (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) and Tori Cyrus (Everett, Mass./Everett) each collected one hit. Saint Norbert was paced by DeMeuse and Kohnle who combined for two homeruns, four RBI and three runs scored, while Buboltz added a 2-for-4 performance with one run score and a pair of RBI.

On the mound, sophomore Brittany Whiting (Sharon, Mass./Sharon) took the loss for Fitchburg State, allowing nine runs (3 earned) on 11 hits with one strikeout, while counterpart Morgan Rusch (Appleton, Wis./West) picked up the win for Saint Norbert, giving up one unearned run on six hits and two K's.

Fitchburg State (1-5, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action Thursday as it battles Albion College at 1 p.m. and Waynesburg College at 5 p.m.