Bloomfield Ends Devils Season with Doubleheader Sweep

Bloomfield College banged out 29 hits in the two games against the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia women's softball team Saturday afternoon as they clinched a playoff spot by defeating the Devils 12-4 and 9-4 at McNeil Field in Philadelphia.

The two losses end the 2007 season for the Devils with a 14-23 overall record and a 10-12 record in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) games, narrowly missing one of the six playoff spots. USP's 14 wins are the most since the 2000 season. USP's 14-23 record is also an 11.5 game improvement over their 2006 squad that went 4-37. Bloomfield improves to 20-16 overall and finishes the regular season with a 14-8 CACC record.

Sarina Lavooy (Sr., Vernon Township HS/Sussex, N.J.) had three hits in the second game and another in the first to finish the afternoon with four hits in eight at-bats. The senior centerfielder closes out her career with a nine-game hitting streak and finishes as the Devils all-time leader in games played (146), at-bats (473), hits (165), run scored (100) and stolen bases (47). Lavooy finished the season batting .387, second best on the team. Sarina finishes her career with a .349 career batting average.

Megan Trimble (Sr., Coatesville Area HS/Coatesville, Pa.) had hits in each of the two games to finish the season with a four game hitting streak. Trimble led the Devils in batting (.433), home runs (3) and RBI (26). The senior rightfielder is the Devils all-time leader in home runs (21) and RBI (88) and closes out her career with a .416 career batting average.

Samantha Lavooy (Sr., Vernon Township HS/Sussex, N.J.), despite not recording a hit on the afternoon, finishes her career with 127 hits, second behind her sister Sarina. The senior outfielder/designated hitter is also second on the Devils all-time list in games played (145) and at-bats (421) and closed out her career with a .302 batting average.

Laura Flint (Sr., Interlake HS/Duvall, Wash.) started and took the loss in first game, giving up 12 runs on 14 hits while striking out two and walking six. With the loss, Flint finished the season with a 7-8 record, the most wins on the team and a 4.56 earned run average (second on the team). With her two strikeouts, the senior pitcher finishes her career as the Devils all-time strikeout leader with 256. Flint also finished her career with 16 wins and a 3.96 earned run average.

Also closing out their careers for the Devils were Ashley Schappell (Sr., Parkland HS/ Schnecksville, Pa.), Kristina Kelly (Sr., G.A.M.P./ Philadelphia, Pa.) and Michelle Stringer (Sr., Cumberland Valley HS (Pa.)/Cape Carteret, N.C.). Schappell this season played in 18 games at both first base and pitcher. Ashley finished her career with 54 hits in 112 games played. Kelly appeared in 16 games this season. The senior shortstop closed out her career with 103 games played and had a career high 12 hits in 2006. Stringer, a catcher, appeared in just 10 games this season. Stringer enjoyed her best season as a freshman, getting 27 hits (.346 average) and driving in 15 runs along with the only two home runs of her career. In her four years on the Devils squad, Stringer appeared in 102 games and had 64 hits.

Back to the games, Bloomfield pounded seven home runs in the doubleheader with Vicki Berardi and Mallory Mathews recording three dingers apiece. Berardi drove in seven runs on the afternoon (four in the first game) with six hits in nine at-bats, while Mathews drove in four (two each game), hitting 5-for-7. Amanda Byrnes also homered in the first game for the Deacons.

Byrnes led off the first game with a home run to left field that cleared the secondary fence some 15 feet beyond the McNeil field fence. An infield error led to the second Bloomfield run. Berardi and Mathews homered to lead of the third inning as the Deacons put up four runs in the inning to take a 6-0 lead.

USP got two back in the bottom of the fourth as Brittany Ebersole (So., Cumberland Valley HS/Camp Hill, Pa.) doubled to left field to start the inning. Ashlee Trupp (So., Daniel Boone HS/Birdsboro, Pa.) replaced her on the base paths and later scored on an infield error that allowed Brittany Brown (Fr., Cherokee HS/Marlton, N.J.) to reach second base. Trimble then delivered a two-out single to score Brown to make the score 6-2.

Mathews' second home run of the game in the top of the sixth made the score 7-2 before the Devils struck again in the bottom of the sixth. Bethanne Bossert (Fr., St. Hubert's HS/Philadelphia, Pa.) singled down the left field line to start the inning and came around to score on Sarina Lavooy's double who was also thrown out on the play trying to reach third. Samantha Tu (Fr., Bensalem HS/Trevose, Pa.) then hit her second double of the game and came around to score when Trimble reached on a throwing error by Bloomfield's pitch Erin Covell to make the score 7-4.

Bloomfield struck for five more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. The big blow was Berardi's three-run home run to right center field. Bossert singled and Sarina Lavooy walked in the Devils final at-bat but that was all the offense that USP could generate as the Deacons prevailed 12-4.

The Devils struck first in the second game as Sarina Lavooy singled and advanced to second on Trimble's one-out single. Both players came around to score on Carolynn Snavely's (Jr., Prescott HS/ Prescott, Ariz.) double and the Devils had a 2-0 lead.

Bloomfield tied the game with single runs in the second and third and took the lead for the first time with three more in the fifth. Berardi hit her third home run of the day with two out to make the score 4-2 and Brianne Moore singled with the bases loaded to make the score 5-2.

Mathews hit her third home run of the day in the sixth as the Deacons piled on three more runs to take an 8-2 lead. Another run in the seventh made the score 7-2 and the Devils were down to their final at-bat. Sarina Lavooy singled and Trimble drew a one-out walk. Tu then delivered a two-out single to left field to score both runners but that was all as the Deacons completed the sweep with a 9-4 win.

Rachel Morgan (Fr., Clackamas HS/Clackamas, Ore.) took the loss to finish the season with a 4-6 record. Morgan struck out five while giving up nine runs (five earned) on 15 hits. The freshman pitcher finished also finished the season with the lowest earned run average on the Devils (4.53) and the best strikeout/7 in. mark (6.16).

Moore earned the win, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out nine.

For the 2007 season, the Devils as a team batted .308, their best batting average since the 1998 season when they batted .321. USP also cut their errors in half from last season and recorded the best fielding average over the past ten seasons (.960).