May 2, 2004

Box Score

EAST PEORIA, Ill.- - With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Lewis Universty's Debbie Peterson lifted a pinch-hit single into right field that broke a scoreless tie and gave Lewis a 1-0 victory over Northern Kentucky in the winner's bracket in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

No. 19 Lewis (43-10) was embroiled in a pitcher's duel with the fifth-ranked Norse (49-4). In a battle of the top two pitchers in league, Lewis' Mary Jaszczak threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout. Jaszczak (18-4) allowed just a bloop single in the sixth inning, while striking out six and walking three, one intentional. NKU's Krystal Lewallen, the GLVC Player of the Year, surrendered seven hits and struck out nine in the loss.

Both teams placed a runner on third in the first inning, but neither team could push a run across. The game remained scoreless until the eighth when Peterson's clutch hit won the game. Kalynn Russell began the eighth inning rally with a one-out double to left field. She was pinch-run for by Beth Shelus, and Shelus advanced to third on a ground out by Stacy Davis. That set the stage for Peterson who worked from behind in a 1-2 count.

"Coach told me to jump on the first pitch and I swung right away, but fouled it off," said Peterson. "After I got two strikes [assistant coach] Joan [Gorski] told me to just battle and fight it off. I wound up getting a pitch that I was able to hit hard enough to get it to the outfield."

In addition to winning their season-best 14th straight game for the second time this year, Lewis saw left fielder Robin Martz tie the NCAA Division II hitting streak record. Martz lined a single down the left field line in the sixth inning for her 35th consecutive game with a hit. She ties Kerstein McVicker of Hampton University (Va.) who set the national record in 1991.

The Flyers will wait for the winner of Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky, who play an elimination game immediately following Lewis' victory. The conference championship game is scheduled for 12:40 p.m., and Lewis' opponent would need to win twice to claim the GLVC title.

The remaining tournament schedule is as follows:
Game 12 (9 a.m.) - Lewis 1, Northern Kentucky 0
Game 13 (11 a.m.) - Southern Indiana vs. NKU - loser eliminated
Game 14 (1 p.m.) - Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13
Game 15 (3 p.m.) - if necessary