March 19, 2010
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Softball: Lewis 1, Quincy 0 
Softball: Lewis 9, Quincy 1 (6 inn.)
Romeoville, Ill. - After a two-week layoff, the Lewis University softball team showed no signs of rust as the Flyers combined solid pitching, flawless defense and clutch hitting to earn the 1-0, 9-1 (6 inn.) doubleheader sweep over Quincy University in their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener at Lewis Softball Field on Friday afternoon.
"We were hitting on all cylinders today and we played about as well as we could against a good team with a great pitcher," Lewis head softball coach George DiMatteo said. "Our execution was outstanding and this is a good way to kick off the GLVC season."
With the sweep, Lewis improves to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in GLVC action, while the visiting Hawks drop to 8-7 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.
Pitching proved to be key on Friday, as Lewis hurlers Diana Pickrum (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) and Karissa Habel (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) combined to limit Quincy to one run and seven hits in 13 innings of work.
Pickrum (3-1) twirled the Flyers first complete-game shutout of the season, as she allowed two hits and struck out two batters in the opener.
For five and a half innings, both teams were knotted up at zero, before freshman center fielder Jayme Hefler (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) reached base on a fielding error by Quincy starter and 2009 Honorable Mention All American, Torie Bunzell. Hefler stole her team-best eighth base of the season and scored on a RBI single by freshman third baseman Michelle Vucsko (Chicago, Ill./Marist) for the only run of the game.
Habel (5-1) picked up her third win in as many appearances, allowing one run and five hits in her fifth complete-game victory of the season. The lone run Habel surrendered, a solo homer by Quincy left fielder Melissa Sommerfeld in the first inning, was the first earned run the Downers Grove, Illinois native had allowed in her last 24.1 innings pitched.
After Sommerfeld's homer, it was all Flyers, as they scored nine unanswered runs for the win. Lewis sophomore designated player Katie Healy (Homewood, Ill./Marian Catholic) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while junior left fielder Sarah Hurley (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield Central) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI. Sophomore third baseman Traci Freitag (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) went 2-for-3 with two runs, including a RBI triple.
While Lewis did not make any errors on the afternoon, the Hawks were plagued by mistakes as they had seven total miscues that led to a combined seven unearned runs. In 7.1 innings of work, Bunzell (5-4), who started both games, surrendered eight hits and five runs, two earned, while striking out five batters.
The Flyers return to action on Tuesday (March 23), as they welcome St. Francis (IL) to Lewis Softball Field for a 3 PM doubleheader.
A Catholic university sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The 9th largest private, not-for-profit university in Illinois is being honored for the sixth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. For more information please visit www.lewisu.edu.
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