Army Jumps Out To Early Leads in Sweep of Rider

Saturday, March 19

Lawrenceville, NJ

1 PM

Army West Point

13-11

Rider

1-15

Army

Rider

Army Jumps Out To Early Leads in Sweep of Rider

March 19, 2016 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Freshman Renee Poirier picked up the save in the first game and fired a six-hitter over four innings in the nightcap, and Kasey McCravey went 5-for-7 with four runs scored, as the Army West Point softball team swept host Rider in a non-league doubleheader Saturday.

"We went into this weekend knowing it would be different playing the same team back to back, which is new for us this season," said head coach Michelle DePolo." It was great to see our bats continue to heat up as the day went on. Game one was a little sluggish and we needed to take care of baserunners a little more, but still pushing three across was a good before the new pitcher came in. I thought the second pitcher did a good job moving the ball and keeping batters in their toes."

Army (14-11) jumped out to early leads in both games, taking a 3-1 decision in the first game while erupting for 18 hits rolling to an 11-2 five-inning victory in the nightcap.

Mae Wadyka's RBI double in the first inning and Maddie Kim's leadoff homer keyed a two-run third in staking junior right-hander Caroline Smith (5-5) to the decision in the first game.

Smith hurled a three-hitter over the first six innings with Poirier earning the save throwing hitless ball in the seventh.

Wadyka's two-out RBI double delivered McCravey (3-for-3 with two runs scored), who led off the first with a single, for Army's first run of the game.

The Black Knights padded their lead with a pair of runs in the top of the third led by Kim's solo blast, her second home run in the last five games, with McCravey, who singled and stole second, crossing on the shortstop's throwing error.

Smith, who threw hitless ball over the first three frames, was touched for her first hit of the game in the fourth, a one-out double, but got out safely on a groundout and infield popup. She kept the Broncs in check until the sixth when they collected a pair of hits and a run.

Poirier took over in relief of Smith in the seventh retiring all three batters on a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in recording her fourth save of the season.

Army's pitching was key in making its lead stand as Rider's relief pitcher D. Demello threw four strong innings keeping the Black Knights in check on a two-hitter, struck out five and did not issue a walk to the 13 batters she faced.

The Black Knights collected six hits off the two pitchers with K. Kallert charged with the loss after allowed all three runs and four hits over the first three innings.

Army then erupted for five runs on six hits in the first inning of the nightcap with Smith and Yoo leading that barrage each driving in a pair of runs on RBI singles.

Rider scored a pair of runs in the home half, but Poirier, touched for three hits and two runs in that inning, scattered three hits over the next three frames keeping the Broncs off the scoreboard. She turned over the circle to Kristen West in the fifth, who retired the side, to complete the doubleheader sweep.

The Black Knights extended their first inning lead to 6-2 on Alee Rashenskas' RBI double in the second, then tacked on three runs in the fourth keyed by Smith's two-run single. Army forced the game to be called on the mercy rule following a two-run fifth keyed by Emily Gray's RBI double and Izzy Gates' run-scoring single.

Gray was perfect in all four plate appearances scoring three runs along with driving in a pair. Smith and Rashenskas each went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Rashenskas knocked in three runs and Smith had two.

With today's sweep, Army took a 14-13-1 lead in the all-time series with Rider, and increased its winning streak to six-straight games over the Broncs. Today was the Cadets' seventh win in a 10 game span and their third mercy rule win in seven days.

"Both games were really highlighted by our defense," added DePolo. "Caroline pitched a great game one and Renee and Kristen game two. The dirt today was very slow and created bad hops. We worked out of a few jams a few times to allow our offense to keep tacking on some runs."

The Black Knights make their home debut Wednesday afternoon hosting Fairfield for a solo contest. The game is slated to begin at 4 p.m. from the Army Softball Complex.