Iacoangeli Steals The Show As Express Sweep Defiance College JV

Freshman outfielder Melanie Iacoangeli prepares for a possible play in right field against Defiance College JV. Offensively, she was 5-for-9 with three runs, eight stolen bases, a walk and an RBI in the doubleheader. Below is Katie Butler being congratulated after her first home run with the Express, while far below is Michelle Hollister sharing a laugh with Express head coach Duane Lanham after she stole third base. Photos by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Freshman outfielder Melanie Iacoangeli prepares for a possible play in right field against Defiance College JV. Offensively, she was 5-for-9 with three runs, eight stolen bases, a walk and an RBI in the doubleheader. Below is Katie Butler being congratulated after her first home run with the Express, while far below is Michelle Hollister sharing a laugh with Express head coach Duane Lanham after she stole third base. Photos by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Posted: Apr 11, 2012

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Defiance, OH---The No. 7 Express softball team combined for 31 hits and 18 stolen bases, while Ashlyn Michalak had another strong outing in the circle, as they swept Defiance College JV 11-2 and 10-2.

Game 1: Owens 11 Defiance JV 2

Michalak pitched five strong innings, while Melanie Iacoangeli and the Express offense banged out 17 hits and swiped 12 bases.

The Express jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first with three hits, three walks and two stolen bases. Katie Butler had a two run double, while Mareshah Scott had an RBI single in the inning.

After Michalak struck out the side in the bottom of the first, the Express added two more runs in the second. Iacoangeli singled, stole second and third, and scored on a single by Tabitha Britt, who later scored on an groundout by Sydney Barron.

In the third, Michalak allowed a two-out, two-run triple that cut the Express lead to 6-2. However, the Express offense answered right back with a run in the fourth when Jaylee Glad singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Barron.

The Express scored two more in the sixth on a passed ball and an RBI single from Scott. Then, in the seventh, Iacoangeli singled with one out, stole second and third and scored on a single by Glad. Butler later had an RBI single to score Glad and make it 11-2.

Iacoangeli led the Express offense with a 4-for-5, three run, six stolen base game, while Butler and Scott each added three hits. Butler led the team with three RBIs, while Barron had two RBIs.

Michalak (9-0) allowed two hits, two runs and three walks while striking out 12 in her five innings. Lexi Sheets pitched the final two innings and allowed only one walk while striking out one.

Lisa Brophy took the complete game loss for Defiance JV. She allowed 17 hits and three walks while striking out three.

Game 2: Owens 10 Defiance JV 2

The Express pounded out 14 more hits as they cruised to a 10-2 win in the second game.

Defiance JV took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an unearned run. The Express then took a 3-1 lead in the third inning as Iacoangeli had an RBI groundout, Glad had an RBI single and Butler had a two-out RBI double to left field.

Owens then added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, while Defiance JV scored a single run in the fifth.

In the third, Olivia Reeder singled to lead off the inning and later scored on an RBI double from Hollister. Butler hit her first homer for the Express in the fifth inning with two outs, while Scott singled, stole second and scored on a groundout by Hollister in the sixth.

Defiance's run in the fifth was unearned.

With a 6-2 lead heading into the seventh, the Express scored four more to put the game away. After two of the first three batters got out, the Express had four straight hits followed by another RBI groundout from Hollister. Aside from Hollister, RBIs came from Alyssa Lassey, Scott and Hannah Morrison.

Sheets (5-1) started for the Express and picked up the win. She went the first four innings and allowed one hit, one run (zero earned) and two walks while striking out six. Kasey Graham pitched the final three innings to pick up the save. She allowed two hits, one run (zero earned) and one walk.

Four players (Lassey, Scott, Morrison and Butler) had two hits apiece in the second game, while Hollister had a team-high three RBIs. Butler was just behind her with two RBIs, while five others picked up one RBI apiece.

Katie Grubbs took the complete game loss for Defiance as she allowed 14 hits, 10 runs (eight earned) and one walk over seven innings.

Notes

The Express are now 18-2 overall and 2-0 in the OCCAC. They will travel to North East, PA this weekend for five games - two against No. 17 Mercyhurst North East (26-6), two against No. 28 Community College of Rhode Island (17-4) and one against Monroe (NY) Community College.

Iacoangeli stole two more bases in the second game and finished with eight in the doubleheader. While upping her batting average to .500, she now has stolen a team-high 27 bases and scored a team-high 23 runs…Scott is now 15-for-15 in stolen bases, which is second on the team…Glad upped her average to .571 (12-21)…Hollister has a team-high 19 RBIs…Butler combined to hit 5-for-8 with three runs and five RBIs in the two games. She raised her average to .313…As a team, the Express are now hitting .352…Michalak now has 113 strikeouts in 69.2 innings – and a 0.82 ERA.