King's Perfect Game Highlights Terrier Sweep
April 29, 2000 | Softball
Terrier junior pitcher Robyn King (Ashby, MA) tossed her first career perfect game and no-hitter in game one, and junior leftfielder Courtney Herr (New Windsor, NY) tallied the game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning in game two, as the Terrier softball team swept Drexel, 7-0 and 3-2, in an America East doubleheader on April 29 at Malvern Field.
King improved her team-best record to 14-3 and lowered her earned run average to 1.08 for the 2000 season. The junior fireballer, ranked fifth in Division I in strikeouts per seven innings with a 9.7 average, denied all 21 Drexel batters she faced on an economical 77 pitches. King struck out five batters while recording eight groundouts and flyouts apiece.
King, the Terriers top hitter with a .347 batting average, went 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. She also registered the game-winning hit on an RBI single to centerfield in the first inning.
B.U. scored one run in each of the first three innings on RBI singles by King and junior second baseman Kerry Herr (New Windsor, NY), while sophomore third baseman Aryn Rangel (Greeley, CO) roped an RBI double to leftfield in the third inning to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead.
The Terriers added four more runs in the fourth inning to extend their advantage to 7-0. Rangel led the B.U. charge, as she plated King and junior catcher Leslie Linnemeyer (Glendale, CA) with her second RBI double of the game.
King, who had a perfect game broken up on a single to leftfield with two outs in the seventh inning versus Vermont on April 1, received some great defense from her teammates, highlighted by Courtney Herr's lunging catch with no outs in the seventh inning to preserve the perfect game.
B.U. head coach Deb Solfaro was very proud of King and the rest of the Terriers, saying, "This is a special occasion because a perfect game hardly happens. Robyn has been close before and she got some great defense from her teammates today. The entire team is very proud of her." Solfaro continued, "Today's perfect game was a total-team effort."
In game two, the Dragons scored runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Kristy Heyser led off the game with a bloop single to centerfield and was driven home on Cassie Snow's two-out single to leftfield. This marked the first run the Terriers allowed in a home game since the fifth inning in game two of a doubleheader versus Providence on March 22, a span of 65 2/3 innings. In the third, Rachel Levinson reached first base on a walk before moving to second on a Heyser infield single. Jenn Hulme moved Levinson to third with a sacrifice bunt, while Levinson scored on Jodi Devine's one-out sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The Terriers would battle back, scoring runs in the fourth and fifth innings to even the game at 2-2. In the fourth, King hit a one-out double to rightfield and scored on a Nili Schnairsohn (Stoughton, MA) single to centerfield. The next inning saw Kerry Herr lead off with a walk before moving to second on senior first baseman Amy Parker's (Newburgh, NY) team-leading 13th sacrifice hit of the season. Linnemeyer advanced Herr to third with a sacrifice bunt, while Herr reached home on a Rangel sacrifice fly to deep rightfield.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rangel hit a one-out single to centerfield and was replaced by freshman pinch runner Tiffany Finateri (Las Vegas, NV), who moved to third on a Schnairsohn infield single coupled with an error by the Drexel second baseman. Courtney Herr then tallied the game-winning single to rightfield, scoring Finateri to give B.U. a 3-2 win.
B.U. freshman pitcher Robyn Horrick (Irvine, CA) earned her 10th win of the year for the Terriers, pitching a complete-game three-hitter. Candace Clark took the loss for the Dragons, despite allowing only six hits.
The Terriers, winners of 20 of their last 21 games, raised their record to 29-13 overall and a 15-3 mark in the America East conference, tying them in the league with Hofstra University, who swept Vermont on Saturday. Drexel dropped to 15-20 overall and 7-13 in America East games.
B.U. and Drexel will complete their four-game series tomorrow, April 30 at Malvern Field. The first game starts at 12 noon.
Game One Drexel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 0 1 Boston University 1 1 1 4 0 0 x -- 7 12 0 Laura Tynio and Katie Loomis; Robyn King and Leslie Linnemeyer HR - None WP - King (14-3) LP - Tynio (3-6)Game Two Drexel 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 2 3 1 Boston University 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 -- 3 6 1 Candace Clark and Katie Loomis; Robyn Horrick and Leslie Linnemeyer HR - None WP - Horrick (10-4) LP - Clark (4-8)
