Softball Blanks Howard 7-0

Saturday, March 5

Fairfax, VA

10 AM

Army West Point

5-7

Howard

0-7

Army

Howard

March 05, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Army West Point softball team blanked Howard 7-0 Saturday morning at the Patriot Classic. The Black Knights led the Bison since the top of the first and never looked back.

Army came out strong in the first inning and scored at the first at-bat. Kasey McCravey got on base with a double and advanced to third when Ashley Yoo had a sacrifice hit. Kristen McPeek stroked an RBI single which sent McCravey home.

The Black Knights tallied another score in the second inning. Maddie Kim was walking and advanced into scoring position on a single from Taylor Gaff. Mae Wadyka hit a line drive to first sacrificing herself to allow Kim and Gaff to move to third and second base. McCravey had an RBI with a groundout to shortstop and Kim found home to push the Cadets ahead 2-0.

Both teams were scoreless in the third inning, but Army was able to convert another run in the fourth to go up 3-0. Gaff was hit by a pitch to place her on first, but was replaced by Hanna Rozzi as the pinch runner. Rozzi advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third when Wadyka hit a grounder to second. McCravey tallied her second RBI of the game when she singled allowing Rozzi to score.

The Black Knights and Bison denied each other from scoring during the fifth and sixth innings to keep the score 3-0 heading into the seventh. Army notched four runs in the top of the seventh and prevented Howard from converting a run to win 7-0.

Wadyka was first to bat and made it to first on a bunt. She was able to steal second and third and on an error by the catcher she scored. McCravey and Yoo were then walked to put Army back in scoring position. Smith hit an RBI single and McCravey was able to cross the plate to nab another run for the Black Knights to give them a 5-0 lead.

Renee Poirier was subbed in to pinch run for Caroline Smith and stole second. Alee Rashenskas was the next up to bat and flied out to left field and earned an RBI when Yoo touched up and scored. Gladys Esparza-Gallegos stroked a single RBI which allowed Poirier to find home for Army's final run to go up 7-0.

In Howard's home half of the final inning, the Bison knocked a double on the first pitch to get onto second. After a fly out and single Howard then had a runner on third, but a strike out and groundout by the Cadets closed-out the game 7-0 in favor of Army.

The Black Knights held a 10-5 advantage over Howard in hits and recorded zero errors to the Bisons' one. McCravey amassed two RBI for Army and added two hits, one single and one double. McPeek, Smith, Rashenskas, and Esparza-Gallegos all had one RBI in the game. Smith was credited with the win from the circle with six innings pitch and three strikeouts.

Army faces host George Mason Saturday at approximately 1215 p.m.

For up-to-date information about Army softball, please follow @ArmyWP_Softball on Twitter and Instagram.