SB: Sheeley and Fortin Make History as Lasers Sweep USJ

Newton, MA - The Lasell Lasers softball team swept the USJ Blue Jays on Friday, winning game one 4-0 and game two in extra innings 6-5. The Lasers are now 24-10 on the season and 8-2 in GNAC play, while the Blue Jays are 16-17 and 4-6.

Game One

Neither team scored until Lasell broke through in the fourth.After a Katie Hopkins single, Eryn Sheeley doubled her home. Sheeley then scored on a Grace Stephenson RBI single, putting the Lasers up 2-0. The Lasers then doubled their lead in the fifth, as Hopkins had a two RBI single. That was it for the scoring, as the Lasers won 4-0.

Eryn Sheeley started for the Lasers, and had her best performance of the season going all seven innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 13. She did not allow a hit until a two out single in the sixth. Sheeley, already the career leader for strikeouts, broke the single season record for strikeouts with her seventh strikeout of the game, passing Amanda Corey's 2006 total of 139 strikeouts. Additionally, Sheeley tied the single game record of 13, originally set by Alison Saluti in 2012.

The Lasers had 10 hits in the game, with Abigail Fortin, Katie Hopkins, and Grace Stephenson each recording two. 

Game Two

After the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Lasers responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Brianna Gendreau, Mackenzie Still, and Meghan Theall each had RBI singles, with Theall's scoring two. The Blue Jays then slowly fought back, scoring a run in the third and two in the fourth to tie things up. They then took a lead with a run in the fifth to make it 5-4. The Lasers tied things up in the sixth when Grace Stephenson led the inning off with a HR. After neither team scored in the seventh, the game went to extra innings. Despite a runner being placed on second to begin the inning, USJ was unable to score, opening the door for the Lasers to walk things off. They did just that, as an Abigail Fortin single scored the winning run, giving the Lasers a 6-5 win.

The Lasers had 15 hits, with Abigail Fortin recording five of them, all singles. With those five hits, she broke the school record for hits in a game. A Laser had recorded four hits over 30 times in school history. Brianna Gendreau, Katie Hopkins, and Grace Stephenson each had two hits. Meghan Theall started in the circle for the Lasers, going four innings and allowing nine hits and four runs, with two of them being earned. She was relieved by Fortin, who also went four innings. She allowed three hits and allowed a lone unearned run to pick up the win. Both pitchers struck out two batters.

The Lasers now have 24 wins on the season, tied for the second most in program history. They are three behind the 2007 team's mark of 27 wins.

Up Next - The Lasers will wrap up their GNAC play on Saturday when they travel to JWU for a battle between the top two teams of the South Division.