WEST POINT, N.Y. (4/13/07) – Junior shortstop LaPorscha Albert (Lewisville, TX) hit two home runs and went 4-for-8 with three RBI to lead Colgate to a doubleheader sweep over Army in Patriot League action Friday at the Army Softball Complex.  The Raiders won the first game 4-2 in 10 innings before taking the nightcap 5-4.

 

Colgate (14-17) remains in first place in the Patriot League standings with a 6-0 record, while Army (11-28) falls to 5-5 in the league.

 

In the opener, Albert blasted two home runs including a two-run shot in the 10^th inning to give the Raiders the victory over the Cadets.

 

Albert tied the game in the fourth inning when she hit her third career home run over the center field fence, after Army had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by Erin McClain.

 

The Cadets moved back in front 2-1 in the sixth inning when pinch runner Jennae  Tomlinson scored on Kathryn Sobotta’s sacrifice fly.

 

Colgate sent the contest into extra innings coming up with the tying run in its last at bat.  Vicky Ortengren (Colorado Springs, CO) led off with a double down the left field line, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Meg Mylan (Upper Montclair, NJ).  Pinch hitter Ashley Rowe (Tampa, FL) drove in Ortengren with a ground out to the shortstop setting the stage for Albert’s heroics.

 

With two outs in the 10^th inning, Jessica Sabo (Hudson Falls, NY) singled to leftfield, and then came home when Albert drilled a shot over the center field fence for the winning runs.

 

Senior right-hander Kelsey Nordstrom (Salina, KS) went the distance for her eighth win of the season.  She allowed five hits, struck out eight and walked four.  She has now struck out 101 batters this season to become only the second pitcher in school history to record over 100 strikeouts in two seasons.

 

In the nightcap, Colgate jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ortengren double and came home on Erin Gomez’s (Lawrenceville, NJ) RBI single.  The Raiders upped their lead to 3-0 in the third inning, when Whitney Scott (Beaverton, OR) hit a home run over the right field fence scoring Albert, who had singled.

 

Army scored three times in the bottom of the third to tie the contest.  The Cadets’ first run scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch, and then Lindsey Gerheim and McClain hit back-to-back RBI sacrifice flies.

 

In the fifth inning, the Raiders scored twice for a 5-3 lead.  Albert tripled to right field, and came home on Scott’s sacrifice squeeze bunt.  After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, Scott scored on a RBI single by Gomez.

 

Army scored once in the seventh inning, before Colgate relief pitcher Amanda Eccleston (Roseville, CA) got the Cadets’ Mary Ann Kearney to pop up to second for the final out with the bases loaded.  Eccleston was the winning pitcher for Raiders working four innings in relief of starter Jesse McCarrick (Oak Hill, Va).  She allowed one run, four hits, walked four and struck out none.

Top hitters in the doubleheader for Colgate were Kortney Hannah (Vacaville, CA), who was 5-for-8, Gomez 3-for-4 with two RBI, Ortengren 4-for-8 and Sabo 3-for-9.

 

GAME NOTES: Albert extended her hitting streak to seven straight games … Nordstrom is tied for eighth place in career victories with 25 … Scott is 19^th in career hits with 99 and 13^th in career RBI with 52.