WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross swept Brown in doubleheader action today from Freshman Field. The Crusaders came away with a narrow victory in game one, 3-1. In the second game, Holy Cross took an early lead and never looked back as it won 8-0. Senior third-baseman Alex Gustafson (Medford, Mass.) had a great performance as she was 3-for-5 in the two games with three RBIs and a homerun. Holy Cross improves to 9-16 overall and Brown falls to 2-28 on the season.
Game 1
Brown took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Holy Cross answered in its half of the third to tie it up at 1-1, as sophomore Hailey Mullen (Plainville, Mass.) stole home.
Holy Cross added its second run of the game in the fourth off of one hit. Sophomore Sarah Kane (Jacksonville, Fla.) added a sac fly RBI as junior Ashleigh Vargas (Wakefield, Mass.) crossed the plate. In the following inning the Crusaders posted the final run of the game to secure a 3-1 victory.
Sophomore Gennifer Durham (Abbeville, S.C.) earned the win on the mound (4-9) as she threw a complete game giving up just three hits and added four punchouts. Jessica Cherness suffered the loss (1-11) for Brown, as she pitched six full innings giving up five hits while striking out six Crusaders in the process.
Game 2
Holy Cross grabbed the early lead in the second game, as Gustafson hit her first home run of the season to left center field to take a 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders added three more runs in the second. Senior Kelliner Croushore (Claremont, Calif.), junior Emma Keough (Rochester, Mass.) and Gustafson all posted an RBI in the inning.
Holy Cross struck with two more runs in the third to take a commanding 7-0 lead. The Crusaders added their second home run of the game as sophomore Becky Geddes (Cumberland, R.I.) blasted a shot to center field to give Holy Cross the 8-0 victory.
The Crusaders had a total of 13 hits in the game compared to the Bears who mustered five.
Holy Cross senior starting pitcher Julia Barrett (Gardner, Mass.) earned the win (5-3) in five full innings of work as she captured her first shut-out of the season. Leah Nakashima took the loss (1-9) for Brown giving up nine hits and eight runs.
Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, April 19 as it will travel to Lehigh for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.
