March 11, 2007
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Courtney Lane went 3-for-4, with three runs batted in and Joanna Kralowetz (3-3) came in the game in relief and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings to lead Hofstra to a come-from-behind victory over No. 19 Georgia Tech (25-5), 9-7, in the semifinals of the Gold Championship bracket at the USF adidas Invitational on Sunday. Junior Savannah Brown led the offensive attack for the Yellow Jackets, going 2-for-4, with a home run and three RBIs.
Sophomore Jennifer Yee went 2-for-4, with a double and one RBI. Senior Caitlin Lever extended her hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. Sophomore Whitney Haller smacked her seventh home run of the season.
In the circle, junior Whitney Humphreys (10-2) earned a no decision, throwing the first 5.0 innings, allowing six hits, five runs, four earned runs and struck out five. Sophomore Tiffany Johnson (10-3) was tagged with the loss, throwing 1.0 innings, allowing four this and four earned runs.
Lever and Johnson were selected to the all-tournament team for the Jackets. Lever finished the weekend hitting .565, with four doubles, two triples, one home run and drove in 12 runs. Johnson went 4-1 in the circle, with 33 strikeouts in 25.0 innings pitched.
Haller gave the Yellow Jackets an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field. The Pride answered with a run in the bottom half of the first as Ashley Lane hit a pop fly to shallow center field that squirted away from the Tech second baseman and center fielder and allowed a base runner from first to score as the game was tied 1-1.
Brown blasted a three-run shot to left field in the top of the third inning to give the Rambling Wreck their second lead of the game, 4-1. The Pride tallied two runs in the bottom half of the inning as Pam Dreslinski tripled to right center field and scored on a wild pitch where the Tech pitcher did not cover home plate as the Jackets lead shrunk to one, 4-3.
Lever and Yee each drove in runs in the top of the fifth inning and Yee scored on a throwing error by the Hofstra second baseman as the Jackets extended their lead to four, 7-3.
Hofstra’s Courtney Oliver drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning to bring the Pride within three, 7-4.
The Pride rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a two RBI double by Lane off the left field fence to give Hofstra its first lead of the game, 9-7.
Tech scored seven runs, on nine hits and had one error, while Hofstra scored nine runs, on 10 hits and had two errors.
The Yellow Jackets will host Houston in a single non-conference game on Wednesday, March 14. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be at Glenn Field.
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