PAINESVILLE, OHIO -- A pair of standout pitching
performances by the home team delivered a pair of losses for the
Lake Erie College softball team on Friday (April 2) at Notre Dame
College. Ashley Harbarger and Mallory Hardner held the Storm
in check in a 5-0, 6-3 sweep at Campus Field.
Harbarger tossed a no-hitter in
game one, allowing just a second-inning walk. Lake Erie (6-22)
had just three base runners in the game, but Harbarger struck out
eight hitters to thwart any potential Storm scoring
chances. Hardner went three-for-three at the plate with a home
run and three RBI to lead the Falcon (9-14) attack.
After being no-hit in the
opener, the Storm wasted little time in preventing that from
happening again. Sophomore Megan Foley (Brunswick,
Ohio/Brunswick) led off game two with her team-leading
sixth home run of the season. After Notre Dame responded with
two runs in the bottom of the first, Foley delivered a two-run
single in the top of the second for a 3-2 LEC lead.
Hardner singled in the tying run
in the bottom of the inning and Christine Kasidonis followed with a
two-run double as part of a four-run second inning for the Falcons
that put them up 6-3.
From that point on, Hardner and
Sam Ronde (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg)
settled in to pitch shutout ball the rest of the way. Ronde allowed
just five hits the final four innings and did not walk a batter in
the game. But, by that time, the Falcons had done enough damage to
claim the sweep.
Kasidonis had three hits to lead
the Falcons while Hardner added two more hits in the nightcap and
was charged with just one earned run allowed in seven
innings.
Foley had two of LEC's
five hits and drove in all three runs in the game.
The Storm is at Slippery Rock
University on Tuesday, April 6.
