April 21, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Rockie Castillo doubled twice in three at bats and did not allow an earned run Sunday to lead Western Kentucky University to a 7-2 Sun Belt Conference softball victory over Middle Tennessee at WKU Softball Field.
Jennifer Martinez threw a three-hit shutout in the opener, a 6-0 Lady Raider victory, to give the teams a split of their four-game league series. WKU (30-17, 3-5 Sun Belt) clinched its second 30-win season in its three-year history and surpassed last season's conference win total. MTSU is 20-25, 3-9 in the SBC.
Castillo was 2-for-3 at the plate, doubling with one out in both the second and fourth innings. In the circle, the right-hander scattered six hits while allowing a pair of unearned runs, striking out two without issuing a free pass, to improve to 8-8 on the season.
Jessie Richardson was also 2-for-3 for the Hilltoppers, scoring twice with an RBI, while Kristalyn Smith drove in three as well.
Western scored twice in the bottom half of the first inning, as Smith doubled home two one out after a Sara Alan?s double put runners on second and third. MTSU cut its deficit in half in the top of the second when Laura Brockman singled with one out, scoring from second base after third baseman Dana Rey threw the ball away on Kip Phillips' bunt single.
Gomes scored again in the third when she led off with a single and Richardson tripled down the right-field line. Smith followed with a suicide squeeze to plate Richardson and give the Hilltoppers a 4-1 advantage.
Another WKU error in the fourth allowed the Lady Raiders to plate an unearned run, as Brockman started the frame with a single through the left side, stole second, then scored when Brandy Hawkins misplayed Phillips' ground ball to second base.
The Hilltoppers added three runs in the fifth, with Shelly Floyd driving in two on a double to the gap in left-center, then coming home on a throwing error by third baseman Kristina Hieb.
Brockman finished 2-for-3 with two runs for MTSU.
Stayc Preator (6-10) was the loser in the second contest, giving up four earned runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings.
Martinez (13-10) allowed just three hits in the opener to defeat the Hilltoppers for the fourth time in five starts, fanning seven without walking a batter. The left-hander surrendered just a first-inning, two-out single to Alan?s before Allison Silver led off the sixth inning with a single to left-center field. Smith added a two-out double in Western's final turn at the plate.
Brockman had two hits and two RBI to lead the MTSU offensive attack, which collected 10 hits and also had four batters reach base via walks. Leah Grothause and Steffi Silva added multiple-hit games, with the former scoring a pair of runs.
The Lady Raiders broke through in the top of the third inning of the opener with four runs, loading the bases on three consecutive singles to open the frame before Lisa Sherman forced home the first run with a walk. Martinez added an RBI single one out later, then Brockman followed with a two-run single to center field to give MTSU a 4-0 lead and knock Topper starter Silver out of the contest.
Lindsay Azevedo singled home two more runs for MTSU in the sixth.
Silver fell to 14-7, giving up four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. Smith closed out the contest, allowing four hits and two earned runs in 4.2 innings.
WKU returns to action Thursday when the Hilltoppers end a 10-game homestand with a 3 p.m. (CDT) doubleheader against Austin Peay. The games were originally scheduled to be played Feb. 27, but were postponed due to poor weather.
- WKU -
