Sports Information Department – 112 Dods Hall
Phone (716) 673-3100 / Fax (716) 673-3136

CONTACT: Jerry Reilly, Sports Information Director

DATE: Monday, March 22, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Softball

Sullivan pitches, hits Devils over Hillsdale

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Fredonia State improved to 5-3 with two wins Monday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

Ashley Sullivan (Derby/Lake Shore) singled in the winning run after pitching eight strong innings in a 2-1 victory over Hillsdale (Mich.) College in the first game.

The Blue Devils (5-3) gave Casey Mazurek (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) a 19th birthday present in the second game, a 6-2 victory over Colby (Maine) College.

Both games were played at the Lee County Sports Complex, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins.

Sullivan pitched a five-hitter for her second win of the spring. She failed to register a strikeout, yet kept Hillsdale off balance with an assortment of pitches. She was backed by errorless defense.

Hillsdale’s Lindsey McNaughton was equally strong. She also pitched a five-hitter and had a 1-0 lead heading into the last of the sixth inning.

Stefanie Dickinson (Hilton/Hilton) led off the Fredonia State sixth with her second single of the game. Pinch-runner Amanda Waite (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) went to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third following two walks and scored the tying run on a passed ball.

The teams were tied after seven innings and the International tiebreaking rule (a baserunner is placed on second base to start the inning) was invoked in the eighth inning. Sullivan pitched out of a second-and-third jam with no outs. She then won her own game with a two-out single to center to score runner Heather Mercer (Horseheads/Horseheads) from third base.

The victory over the NCAA Division II team in the morning turned out to be a momentum boost for the afternoon game against Colby. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Dickinson capped the rally with a two-run single, her first of two hits in the game and four hits on the day.

Mercer was 3-for-3 with a double to lead an 11-hit attack. In addtion to Dickinson, Andrea Carlson (Forestville/Pine Valley) and Jen Grabowski (West Seneca/West Seneca West) had two hits each.

Mazurek was the birthday beneficiary of the offensive outburst. She mixed her pitches, struck out two, scattered eight hits and closed out the afternoon by pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. It was her second win of the season.

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