Softball Spotlight: Lavooy Sets Record but Devils Drop a Pair to Yellow Jackets Wednesday, March 14, 2007 By Bob Heller USIP Sports Information Director Sarina Lavooy became the all-time hit leader in the 24-year history of women’s softball at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. However the Devils dropped both ends of their doubleheader against the Yellow Jackets of American International College 5-3 and 11-7. USP falls to 3-9 overall with the two losses. AIC improves to 3-6 overall. Lavooy (Sr., Vernon Township HS/Sussex, N.J.) entered the game tied with all-time leader Michelle Manship at 125 career hits. After going 0-for-2 with a walk in her first three plate appearances, Lavooy hit a 1-2 pitch up the middle in the bottom of the seventh for her 126th career hit, putting her alone atop the all-time leaders. Lavooy added four more hits in the nightcap and now has 130 for her career. In the opener, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. Tara DeMontier opened the top of the fifth with a home run to make the score 5-0. The Devils got on the scoreboard in their half of the sixth inning, plating three runs to pull within two, 5-3. Megan Trimble (Sr., Coatesville Area HS/Coatesville, Pa.) and Carolynn Snavely (Jr., Prescott HS/Prescott, AZ) each had two-out singles with both runners coming around to score on Brittany Brown’s (Fr., Cherokee HS/Marlton, N.J.) double. After Brown advanced on a passed ball, Mia Crotti (Fr., Valley View HS/Jessup, Pa.) walked to put runners on the corners with two outs. Pinch hitter Brittany Ebersole (So., Cumberland Valley HS/Camp Hill, Pa.) then beat out a bunt for an RBI single as Brown scored. Lavooy’s record breaking leadoff single started the seventh but AIC’s Sara Puglisi got the next three batters out to end the game. Puglisi picked up the complete game win while Laura Flint (Sr., Interlake HS/Duvall, Wash.) (2-3) took the loss. Trimble and Brown each had two hits for the Devils. In the nightcap, AIC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a grand slam home run by Katelyn Elie. USP battled back with a pair of runs in the first and two more in the second to tie the game at 4-4. In the first, Lavooy singled and moved to third on Trimble’s one-out single. Snavely followed with a single to score Lavooy and Sarina’s sister Samantha was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ebersole hit a grounder to the right side of the infield allowing Trimble to score to make the score 4-2. One inning later, the Devils added two more runs. Bethanne Bossert (Fr., St. Hubert’s HS/Philadelphia, Pa.) reached on an error and Sarina Lavooy beat out a bunt single. Annie Abbate (Fr., St. John Villa Academy/ Brooklyn, N.Y.) followed with a single to score Bossert and Trimble singled to score Lavooy and tie the game at 4-4. The Yellow Jackets broke the tie in the top of the third with four runs and added two more in the fourth for a 10-4 lead, including DeMontier’s second home run of the day. The Devils got one back in the bottom of the fourth as Snavely had her second hit of the game and later scored on Ebersole’s groundout. Two USP errors in the fifth led to another AIC run to make the score 11-5 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Shannon Roth (Jr., Cumberland Valley HS/Mechanicsburg, Pa.) led off the bottom of the fifth with a pinch-hit bad hop double to right centerfield. Sarina Lavooy added her fourth hit of the day, a one-out single to move Roth to third. Abbate flied out to centerfield, scoring Roth and Lavooy later advanced on a wild pitch. Trimble followed with her third single of the game to score Lavooy and make the score 11-7. USP had one last chance in the sixth when Ebersole led off the inning with a double. However just like in the first game, AIC got the next batters out to end the game. Sarina Lavooy went 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Trimble went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Snavely went 2-4 with an RBI. The Devils will face Chestnut Hill College in their next contest on Friday, March 16, 2007.