TU mercy-rules Howard
Towson took both games of a double-header against Howard Wednesday afternoon, mercy ruling them in both.
They won the first game 11-1 in six innings and the second 10-0 in five innings.
In the first game, Towson (18-21, 3-6 Colonial Athletic Association) scored 11 runs on 12 hits.
In the second game, the Tigers had 10 runs on eight hits against the Bison (5-24).
Junior pitcher Katie Lingmai struck out 13 batters in six scoreless innings in the first game of the day. She allowed one hit in her 11th win of the season.
“I thought we came out really well. We were really aggressive, and I felt like we hit the ball really hard like we’ve been wanting to do and we took care of it,” Lingmai said. “I thought I did, for the most part, pretty good. I think I got only one hit, so I thought I did my job. I did all right.”
Head Coach Lisa Costello said she was pleased with Lingmai’s play and that Lingmai has continued to pitch consistently.
“She’s done a great job,” Costello said. “Started over the weekend, and she’s been steady all year. She really threw it well over the weekend, and then today, [it was] just missed bats.”
In the second game, freshman Missy McCormick recorded five strikeouts and gave up three hits with no errors.
McCormick pitched the first four innings, getting the win and extending her record to 4-7.
Senior Paige Martin pitched the fifth and recorded two strikeouts.
Costello said she put Martin in to get her some work and hopes to get Martin on the mound again this season.
“She was real effective here,” Costello said. “She throws good stuff, keeps the ball down. She has a nice shot changing speeds.”
Freshman infielder Macie McGeehan came back from a weekend injury and finished the series with three runs, two hits that came in the first game, and seven RBIs.
“She hit the ball hard over the weekend,” Costello said. “She’s coming around. She was hitting the ball well before she got hurt. It took her a few days to get back into that groove.”
Senior first baseman Andrea Stevenson played two strong games, finishing the series with three runs, three hits and four RBIs.
Stevenson also started the bottom of the first inning in the second game with a solo home run.
“I think it’s not necessarily a great home run, but a great at-bat,” Costello said. “[Stevenson] came up and that first at-bat was a good, strong at-bat. Regardless of home run or not, it was a great way to set the tone.”
Freshman infielder Hailey Balk extended her hitting streak to nine games.
At the end of the series, she scored four runs, recorded six hits and two RBIs, both of which were recorded in the second game.
“As long as she’s [batting] runs in, that’s her job now,” Costello said.
Senior outfielder Erika Stasch finished the series with one run, scored in the second game, three hits and five RBIs.
With the three hits, Stasch inches closer to breaking the top-10 in Towson’s career hits list.
She needs only 17 more hits this season to reach that milestone.
With the wins today, Towson is on a three-game win streak.
The 2-0 win against Drexel last Saturday snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Lingmai said that snapping the streak has made it easier for the team to get into a winning mindset.
“I feel like it’s put a lot less pressure on us,” she said. “I think we were starting to feel a little pressure when we were losing. But now that we’re winning, I think we’re just going to move up from here. We’re making a lot of changes in the dugout and on the field, too, so it’s really good.”
Towson will play at home again this weekend with a three-game series against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks.
The teams will play in a double-header Saturday with the last game of the series on Sunday.
Costello said she hopes the team will have a successful weekend.
“[We want to] come out here and play well. Win three games. Win the series,” she said.
