Walter Sets WC Single-Season Strikeout Record

OWINGS MILLS, MD – Host Stevenson University swept a non-conference softball doubleheader from visiting Washington College on Monday afternoon at Weinberg-Fine Stadium.  The Mustangs (21-17-1) won game one, 4-3, and topped the Shorewomen (20-18) in the second game by a 7-3 score.

In game one, the two teams entered the top of the seventh inning tied 2-2.  The Shorewomen took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh when freshman Kelly Ward (Baltimore, MD/Mercy) scored on a fielding error to put WC up 3-2 entering the last of the seventh.

After the first two were retired, Brittani Rynkowski kept the inning and game going with a single to right field.  She stole second and moved to third when Lisa Bilski reached on a throwing error and took second on the throw.  The next hitter, Sara DiMeglio singled to center to score Rynkowski and tie the game at 3-3, while Bilski moved up to third.  Bilski would score the game-winning run when Desirae Sullivan singled to center for the walk-off hit.

For the Mustangs in game one, Rynkowski and Sullivan each had a pair of hits, with Bilski and Sullivan driving in two.  Bilski, who hit a two-run home run to left-center in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 2-2, scored twice along with Rynkowski.  In the circle, Julianne Roper got the win and improves to 15-11 on the year.  She went the distance, allowing six hits and three runs, two of which were earned.

Sophomore pitcher Brittany Walter (Forest Hill, MD/C. Milton Wright) took the loss for the Shorewomen and drops to 8-9.  She tossed her team-best 10th complete game of the year for Washington.  She struck out six to become the school's leader in strikeouts in a season with 73, breaking the mark of Emily Adams '09 who fanned 69 in 2009.  Walter set the mark when she struck out Stevenson's Kristin Urban swinging for her 70th punch out of 2011 to end the last of the second.  She allowed seven hits and four runs, but just two of them earned.

At the plate for WC, junior Leigh Carbutt (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) doubled to right-center went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a run scored.  Junior Sally Snover (Charlotte, NC/Myers Park) had an RBI, while freshman Kylie Nottingham (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) scored a run.

In game two, WC raced out to a 3-0 lead after three innings.  In the top of the second, sophomore Shaelan Nottingham (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) socked her first career home run over the wall in left-center to put the Shorewomen up 2-0 with Walter scoring ahead of her.  Kylie Nottingham scored on a RBI single by Snover in the top of the third to make it 3-0.

The Mustangs would tie the game in the last of the fifth with three two-out runs.  Bilski singled up the middle to score two and cut the WC lead to 3-2.  She would score on a single through the left side by DiMeglio to knot the game at 3-3.

Stevenson would score four times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-3 lead.  Rynkowksi would put Stevenson up for good with a two-run single with one away to give the hosts a 5-3 lead.  The Mustangs would add two more runs to cap the four run frame and provide the final margin.

Rynkowski sparked the Stevenson offense with a 3-for-4 performance with two runs scored and two RBI.  Four of her teammates, Bilski, Sullivan, DiMeglio and Lindsey Kuczak all had two hits with Bilski driving a game-best three runs and Kuczak scoring twice.  These five players, who batted 1-5 in the order, had 11 of the team's 12 hits.  Roper got the win in relief and is now 16-11 on the year.  She tossed the final 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and punching out three.

For Washington, sophomore Lindsey Glascock (Glenwood, MD/Glenelg) had two hits, while Shaelan Nottingham had two RBI.  The squad had seven hits in the game.  In the circle, junior pitcher Jill Piasecki (Galena, MD/Kent County) took the loss and drops to 4-4.  She went five-plus innings, giving up five runs and nine hits.

The Shorewomen conclude the regular season on Wednesday afternoon against visiting York College of Pennsylvania.  First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.