Saturday, February 27, 2010

Duncan, Massenzo power Lady Bucs past Rutgers, 5-0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Feb. 27, 2010) – Junior Jessica Duncan (Ooltewah, Tenn.) has been a huge addition to the Lady Bucs’ softball team through the early stages of the season.
 

On Saturday afternoon, the Ooltewah, Tenn. native continued her winning ways in the circle, as she tossed six scoreless innings and senior catcher Trisha Massenzo’s (Russellville, Tenn.) RBI single in the first was all the offense ETSU would need – lifting the Lady Bucs past Rutgers 5-0 from the Frost Classic in Chattanooga. Earlier in the day, the Lady Bucs came up short against UT-Martin, 5-2.
 

Senior slugger Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) led the Lady Bucs in the two games on Saturday with a .500 batting average (3-6) and scored one run. Sophomore Amy Campbell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd, as the Chattanooga, Tenn. native went 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored.
 

The Lady Bucs have won three of their four games in the three-day Classic and improved to 7-4 on the year.  
 

ETSU vs. Rutgers Recap
The Lady Bucs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Massenzo’s two-out RBI single up the middle – scoring freshman Lucy Schneider (Dade City. Fla.) from second.
 

After Duncan struck out two of the first Scarlet Knight hitters in the bottom half of the frame, ETSU tacked on another run in the second. A leadoff walk by Marlina Delisa (Tucson, Ariz.) came around to haunt Rutgers, as fellow sophomore Amy Campbell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) brought in the Tucson, Ariz. native with her one-out RBI double to left-center – making it a 2-0 ballgame.
 

With Duncan keeping the Rutgers’ (0-8) hitters off the bases, the two runs were more than enough support for the junior right-hander. Duncan took a no-hitter into the fourth, but with one out, Ashley Bragg singled up the middle. Then, with Bragg on first, Duncan plunked Brittney Lindey – putting runners on first and second with one out. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native remained calm in the circle by getting Mandy Craig to hit into a fielder’s choice and forced Lindsey Curran to end the inning with a fly out to left.

Lady Bisons beat Kentucky and Kansas in Frost Classic  

It was a “Special K” kind of day for the Lipscomb Lady Bisons softball team and it has nothing to do with cereal for breakfast.

The Lady Bisons opened the second round of the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., Saturday with a 3-0 win over Kentucky from the Southeastern Conference. They closed the day with a 7-3 win over Kansas from the Big 12.

“Any time we can face off against a big name team that plays in a bigger conference is a plus for us,” Lady Bisons coach Kristin Ryman said. “Any time we can pull out wins against teams like this it is an added bonus.

“We earned those two wins on our performances. To be able to say we beat teams in the Big 12 and SEC says a lot. We have a lot of experience on the field. We have players that are hungry to prove something.”

Pitcher Whitney Kiihnl threw a two-hitter against Kentucky, striking out 10. When starter Christen Campbell struggled against Kansas, allowing four hits and three runs, Kiihnl came on in relief. She allowed only one hit while striking out 11 in 6.1 innings.

“We didn’t want to let things get out of hand too quickly,” Ryman said. “Our offense has been so strong over the last couple of weeks that we wanted to make sure we gave our hitters a chance.”

The Lady Bisons are 11-1 for the season. Kentucky fell to 10-3. Kansas dropped to 6-8.

Kiihnl is 8-0 this season. She has not allowed a run in 18.1 innings. Kiihnl also had three hits, all in the Kansas game.

First baseman Kellie Sirus had four hits and four runs batted in. Two of her hits were doubles.

The Lady Bisons also received help from players whose names start with other letters of the alphabet.

Shortstop Courtney Billington had three hits, two for doubles. First baseman Vanessa Medina recorded three hits in the Kansas game. Billington, batting second, and Sirus, hitting in the third spot, have become a formidable duo at the plate.