George Washington University

March 5, 2006

Box Score

WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington University sophomore Caroline Howe (Los Alamitos, CA) delivered a two-out run-scoring triple in the bottom of the sixth inning to seal the Colonials' 9-1 victory over Drexel in the championship game of the Colonial Classic and give GW its first ever tournament title Sunday afternoon at Mount Vernon Softball Field. The Colonials improved to 7-3 on the season and have won five of their last six games.

Pinch hitter Maryanne Mohan (Portland, OR) reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Jackie Yaniga (Miami, FL), which set the table for Howe in the bottom of the sixth as Mohan came around to score the clinching run, and GW won by virtue of the eight-run rule after five innings.

The Colonials had clinched their spot in the championship game of the Colonial Classic by going 2-0 on Saturday at the tournament with wins over Colgate (8-2) and Bucknell (8-0 (5)). GW played Drexel in its final round-robin game Sunday morning with the Dragons coming out on top, 6-3.

GW struck first in the championship game with a single run in the opening frame as Howe drove in classmate Chrysanthi Halkiotis (Brookeville, MD) with a single to center field. The Colonials added four more runs in the second to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

The inning was higlighted by a two-run single from sophomore Lisa Cohen (Langhorne, PA) and an RBI single from Howe. Drexel managed to get on the board in the fifth as Lisa Williams had an RBI groundout to make it 5-1.

GW would answer right back in the bottom of the frame as Howe led off the inning with a single and later scored on a double off the bat of second baseman Hilary King (Canal Winchester, OH). The Colonials scored two more times in the inning courtesy of a wild pitch and a throwing error by rightfielder Kristen Beaver.

Sophomore pitcher Gabby Culp (Desoto, TX) went the distance once again to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the season. Culp tossed 6.0 innings allowing just one earned run with a pair of strikeouts. Howe finished 4-for-4 with three RBI, while Cohen went 2-for-4 with two RBI and King finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

In their first game against Drexel on Sunday, the Dragons scored single runs in the first through third innings to gain the early advantage and never look back.

Drexel tacked on three more runs in the fifth before GW scored its first run in the bottom of the sixth. Cohen led off the inning with a solo home run, her first of the season. The Colonials scored twice more in the seventh, but it was too little too late as Drexel prevailed, 6-3, to clinch its spot in the title game.

Cohen led GW offensively going 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Meyers had two hits, and Yaniga, junior Nikki Brooks (Chillicothe, OH) and sophomore Katie Miller (Manteo, NC) had a hit apiece.

The Colonials (7-3) return to the field when they take on Towson in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, March 8, beginning at 2 p.m. at Mount Vernon Softball Field.