HAMILTON, N.Y. (4/10/06) – It was a perfect birthday present for Colgate head softball coach Vickie Sax – a sweep of Monday’s doubleheader against Army to move into second place in the Patriot League standings.  The Raiders took the opener 4-1 behind a three-run homer by freshman Ashley Rowe (Tampa, FL), before defeating the Black Knights 6-5 in a nail biter in the nightcap.

 

Colgate (12-13, PL 5-3) moves into second place in the Patriot League standings, while Army (11-24, PL 4-4) falls into third place.  The Raiders, who won three of four games in the series against the Black Knights, are three games behind league leader Lehigh.

 

Rowe was 3-for-6 with five RBI in the doubleheader, and picked up her first collegiate win on the mound in the second game.  During the four-game series against Army, she batted .462 with eight runs batted in, two doubles and one home run.

 

Other top hitters for the Raiders in Monday’s doubleheader were sophomore shortstop LaPorscha Albert (Lewisville, TX) 4-for-6 with three doubles, three runs scored and one RBI and freshman second baseman Vicky Ortengren (Colorado Springs, CO), who was 3-for-6, and freshman catcher Meg Mylan (Upper Montclair, NJ), who was 2-for-3 in the second game with a pair of RBI.

 

Senior Kate Howard (Wheaton, IL) won her second game of the series in the opener to improve to 10-6 on the season.  Howard allowed three hits, struck out four and walked four.

 

Colgate jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the opener on Rowe’s third home run of the season.  With one out, senior right fielder Kim Olmstead (Spring Hill, FL) doubled and moved to third on a single by Albert.  Two batters later, Rowe tagged Army starter Veronica Barth (4-12) with a shot over the left field fence.

 

After Army’s Veronica Lauzon broke up Howard no-hit bid in the fourth inning with a home run, the Raiders scored their final run in the sixth inning.  Albert’s double scored freshman Calla Yee (Salinas, CA), who had reached on a fielders’ choice.

 

The Black Knights loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but Howard got Nikki Posey on a liner to third for the final out.

 

Olmstead, Ortengren and Albert had two hits apiece for the Raiders, who touched Barth for 10 hits.

 

In the nightcap, Colgate had to scrape for its 12^th win of the season.  The Raiders led the entire way, but the game wasn’t decided until the final out.  Army had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh inning, and there was a full count on Posey.  With the runners on the move, Posey popped to shallow center field where Yee made a great running catch to end the threat.

 

Junior Kelsey Nordstrom (Salina, KS) was the starter for the Raiders, working the first three innings, before giving way to Rowe.  Nordstrom, who is still limited in her pitch count coming off a shoulder injury, allowed two hits, one run, walked two and struck out one.

 

Rowe (1-4) worked the final four frames giving up seven hits, four earned runs, walking three and striking out two.

 

Colgate jumped on the Cadets for three runs again in the first inning on three back-to-back doubles by Albert, Rowe and Whitney Scott (Beaverton, OR), and a RBI single by Kortney Hannah (Vacaville, CA).

 

Army scored once in the third inning, but Colgate came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on Mylan’s two-run double.

 

Army made it 5-2 in the fourth inning before the Raiders scored on Rowe’s RBI single that plated Albert, who had doubled.  The Cadets made things interesting with a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the seventh.

 

Albert, Rowe, Hannah and Mylan had two hits apiece for the Raiders.

 

GAME NOTES – Scott had her 13-game hitting streak stopped in the opener, but came back with a hit in the second game.  She has hit safety in 22 of 25 games this season … Nordstrom’s one strikeout in the second game gives her 200 for her career … Olmstead is tied for 15^th in career doubles with 17 … Rowe has driven in a team high 26 runs.