Temple University Athletics
Smuda, Dairy Blank Hawks In Two-Game Sweep
4.18.07 | Softball
April 18, 2007
AMBLER, PA - True freshman Ashley Smuda and junior Brianna Dairy each posted complete game shutouts Wednesday afternoon as the Owls swept a critical Atlantic 10 doubleheader, 6-0 and 8-0, against Saint Joseph's (11-19, 4-6) at the Ambler Softball Field. Each right-hander scattered just three hits while Smuda struck out six and Dairy retired a career-best seven.
Senior Adrienne Repsher, sophomores Courtney Norene and Katie Burdeaux each homered in game one. Repsher and Norene added another in the nightcap as the Owls pounded 19 hits in two games.
"All season, it's been our offense that has been so consistent," commented second-year head coach Casey Dickson. "But today, we were consistent in all three facets needed to win a game - offense, defense and pitching."
After two scoreless frames in to start game one, the Cherry and White plated four runs on four hits, all with two outs, in the bottom half of the third. Senior Jessica Rohn ignited the Temple rally with an infield single before Repsher launched her league-leading ten home run of the season. Two batters later, following a Burdeaux single, Norene blasted a long home run to the leftfield.
The four-run cushion was all that Smuda (7-7) really needed as the right-hander cruised to her team-leading seventh win in the circle without any threat of trouble from the Hawks. On three separate occasions, Saint Joseph's stranded runners aboard, however, none reached past second base.
After Hawks' hurler Dani Gonzales silenced the Owls to start game two, the Cherry and White erupted for eight runs over the next four innings. Run-scoring singles from Norene and junior Natalie Wagner, and a two-run double from Burdeaux, supplied the hosts with a four-run lead after four innings.
The Owls (11-14, 5-3) quickly added four more in the fifth, sending the Hawks home with a five-inning, eight-run loss. Repsher started the inning with a long home run over the scoreboard in left before Norene went to the opposite-field two batters later. True freshman Krystle Metzler, after doubling off the rightfield fence, later scored after a Saint Joseph's throwing error.
In her eighth start this season, Dairy (2-2) collected herself and put together another solid outing after dodging trouble in the first. The right-hander walked just two in her first complete game performance as an Owl.
The Cherry and White remain at home on Friday for the start of a two-game set with conference-leading UMass at 3:00 p.m. Game two is scheduled for Saturday at noon and will be apart of Temple's annual Cherry and White Day festivities. In addition to the first 50 fans receiving free hot dogs, the Owls will plant a memorial tree in honor of the late Temple head coach Rocci Pignoli.
