James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
James Madison University
5-3
Pittsburgh
2-6
JMU KNOCKS OFF PITTSBURGH 3-0
2/28/2010 5:00:00 PM | Softball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Feb. 28, 2010 -- Junior catcher Katie Spitzer (Broadway, Va./Broadway) hit a pair of solo home runs and a pair of James Madison pitchers combined for a shutout as the Dukes defeated Pittsburgh 3-0 in the final game of round robin play at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Sunday.
The Dukes improved to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the tournament, advancing them to the championship game against No. 25 North Carolina. Pittsburgh fell 2-6 on the season and 0-3 in the invitational, putting them in the consolation game against Fairfield.
Spitzer finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Her first home run came in the bottom of the second inning, blasting a 1-0 pitch deep over the center field fence. She followed that with a shot to almost the same spot in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The two homers were the first two of the season for the junior and the fifth and sixth of her career.
Right-handed juniors Heather Widner (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready) and Olivia McPherson (Liberty, N.C./Southern Alamance) did the rest of the work for Madison, keeping the Panther offense off the board through seven innings. Widner pitched the first three innings, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out one in a no-decision. McPherson entered to start the fourth, giving up four hits and a walk. The transfer from Greensboro College picked up her first win at JMU to improve to 1-0.
Both pitchers received help from their defense as the Dukes recorded 20 of the 21 outs in the field. Freshman center fielder Jasmine Butler (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) made a diving catch in the top of the third with a runner on third to save a run, only to be matched by senior right fielder Courtney Simons' (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) diving grab with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the fourth inning.
JMU opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by freshman third baseman Haley Johnson (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run). Senior first baseman Shannon Moxey (Church Road, Va./Mills Godwin) started the two-out rally with a walk and scored from first as Johnson drove the offering from Pittsburgh right-hander Alyssa O'
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McPherson, Olivia (1-0)
L: O'CONNELL, Alyssa (2-2)
Batting:
2B: HEITMEIER, Amanda 1
SH: CHEESEBREW, Kristen 1 ; LIVESEY, Megan 1
Base Running:
SB: CHEESEBREW, Kristen 1
CS: COGNIGNI, Niki 1
Batting:
2B: Butler, Jasmine 1 ; Johnson, Haley 1
HR: Spitzer, Katie 2
RBI: Johnson, Haley 1 ; Spitzer, Katie 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Moxey, Shannon 1 ; Spitzer, Katie 2
SB: Botkin, Lori 1
