Devils Sweep Warriors

Erin Degnan and Rachel Morgan pitched complete game wins and Megan Trimble hit her third home run of the season as the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia women's softball team took both games of a doubleheader against Nyack College, 4-2 and 6-1 Friday afternoon at McNeill Field.

The Devils improve to 11-19 overall with the two wins and 8-8 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games. Nyack falls to 6-19 overall and 3-11 in league games. USP's 11 wins are the most by a Devils softball team since the 2004 season.

Degnan (Fr., Gwynedd Mercy Academy, Doylestown, Pa.) allowed just five hits and two runs while striking out four in the opener to earn the first win of her college career. Trimble (Sr., Coatesville Area HS/Coatesville, Pa.) and Mia Crotti (Fr., Valley View HS/Jessup, Pa.) had two hits apiece as the Devils got hits from seven of their nine batters. Four of USP's nine hits went for extra bases. Melanie Susen had two of Nyack's five hits. Lauren Jacobs took the loss for the Warriors.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard in their first at-bat, manufacturing a run off two walks a stolen base and a single by Laura Briggs. The Devils tied the game up in the bottom of the first. Trimble hit a long two-out fly ball that was misplayed by centerfielder Danielle Palentchar and wound up on third base on the error. Carolynn Snavely (Jr., Prescott HS/ Prescott, Ariz.) followed with a triple to centerfield, scoring Trimble with the tying run.

USP took a 2-1 lead in the third inning as Sarina Lavooy (Sr., Vernon Township HS/Sussex, N.J.) led off the inning with a triple and scored on Trimble's single. The lead was short-lived as Nyack's Lynnae Thompson drilled a pitch over the fence in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2.

The Devils retook the lead in the sixth inning. Crotti and Samantha Lavooy (Sr., Vernon Township HS/Sussex, N.J.) led off the inning with back-to-back doubles, giving the Devils a 3-2 lead. Lavooy advanced to third on an infield groundout and later scored on Annie Abbate's (Fr., St. John Villa Academy/ Brooklyn, N.Y.) infield single to make the score 4-2. Degnan got the first two outs of the seventh before allowing a single by Susen. Lauren Campbell then flied out to Trimble in rightfield to end the game.

It was Trimble's two-run home run in the fifth that opened up a close game and started a three-run outburst in the inning that left the Devils with a five-run lead 6-1. Morgan (Fr., Clackamas HS/ Clackamas, Ore.) earned the win, evening her record at 4-4. The freshman pitcher allowed just three hits, one unearned run while striking out nine batters. USP had only five hits in the game with Sarina Lavooy getting two of them.

After sending nine batters to the plate and manufacturing three runs on just one hit in the second inning, the Devils held a 3-0 lead. Nyack took advantage of an infield error by the Devils to plate a run in the fourth inning to make the score 3-1.

Leading 3-1 in the fifth inning, Sarina Lavooy singled to start the inning. After Samantha Tu (Fr., Bensalem HS/Trevose, Pa.) popped out, Trimble took an 0-2 pitch from losing pitcher Lauren Merkley and put it over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run, her third of the season to make the score 5-1. The Devils were not finished as Snavely followed Trimble's dinger with a single and Brittany Brown (Fr., Cherokee HS/ Marlton, N.J.) doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Samantha Lavooy. Lavooy flied out to deep left field as Snavely tagged and scored on the play to make the score 6-1.

Nyack threatened in the top of the sixth, getting a walk to Thompson and a single to Palentchar to start the inning. Another walk with two outs loaded the bases but Brynne Hennessy hit a ground to third baseman Laura Hamilton (So., Cardinal O'Hara/ Havertown, Pa.) who stepped on the third base bag for the force out as the Warriors left the bases loaded. Nyack finished the game leaving 11 runners stranded on the base paths. A one-out walk in the seventh was all the offense the Warriors could muster in their final at-bat as Morgan retired the next two batters to end the game.

The Devils take to the road when the play Dominican College on Saturday, April 21, 2007 in Orangeburg, New York. The first game is set to start at 1:00 p.m.