April 1, 2006
Courtesy Drexel Sports Information
Philadelphia, Pa. - Freshman Ashlee Veilleux (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian) tossed her second no-hitter of the season in Drexel's (8-17, 2-3 CAA) 8-0 victory over George Mason (1-32, 1-4 CAA) in game one of the three-game CAA series.
Veilleux also went 1-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs. Christina Rodriguez (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) also added a pair of RBIs and Molly Dacey (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) and Kristen Beaver (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) both had two hits. Veilleux threw six innings, with four walks and six strikeouts for her second no-no.
Drexel took a lead in the first inning as Lisa Williams (Milton, Del./Cape Henlope) scampered around to score from second base on a ball bobbled by the shortstop to make it a 1-0 game.
The Dragons broke it open in the fifth inning when Rodriguez drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to the fence in left centerfield. Two more runs came in when Veilleux hit a grounder to second. Mandy Bach (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) tried to cut down the runner and the plate, but bounced the throw allowing Williams and Rodriguez to score. Dacey brought in Veilleux when she roped a ball to center that took a hop around the charging centerfielder. Dacey motored around the bases for an RBI triple that gave Drexel a 6-0 lead.
In the same fashion she started Drexel's big fifth inning, Beaver led off the sixth with a single. Aiken followed by drawing a walk. Williams chopped a grounder to shortstop and Kelsey Mack (Reading, Pa./Daniel Boone) tried to get the lead runner with a flip to third base, but her throw sailed which allowed Beaver to score making it 7-0. Rain delayed the game for about a half an hour and when it resumed in the bottom of the sixth, Drexel had runners on second and third with no outs. Veilleux stepped to the plate and stroked a double to the gap in left centerfield, plating the eighth run to invoke the mercy rule. Veilleux's hit closed the book on her second no-hitter of the season.
The win is Drexel's first conference victory of the season and snaps and eight-game losing skid for the Dragons. Veilleux, who no-hit the University of the Sciences earlier this year, is the only freshman in Drexel history to throw two no-hitters in the same season. She joins Lori Swanson and Lisa Schramm as the only pitchers to throw multiple hitless games.
Game Two
Fresh off her no-hitter, Veilleux started the nightcap for the Dragons. She lasted only the and one-third innings in the contest, however, and had to be moved to right field when a line drive glanced off her hand. Amanda Shattuck relieved her and held on for a 3-2 victory.
Veilleux still managed to drive in a run for the Dragons, going 2-for-2 from the plate. Molly Dacey and Christina Rodriguez also turned in multi-hit games for Drexel. Dacey ended her day going 4-for-6 with a triple and two RBIs in the doubleheader.
Veilleux started game two and allowed her first hit of the day in the top of the second inning, a liner past a diving Brianne Brown at third base. The runner was quickly erased on an attempted sacrifice and the second hit of the day was also bittersweet for George Mason as Rodriguez fired a throw in from left field after a bloop single to cut down Kristen Dickel (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) before she reached second base.
In the third inning, Drexel scored three times on singles by Veilleux, Sandi Wambold (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro Horsham) and Dacey. The three-run inning proved to be the only runs Drexel would need as Veilleux, Shattuck and the Dragon defense stranded nine Patriots on the bases.
Mason came back to get a run in the top of the fourth inning when Veilleux walked the lead-off batter Emily Miller (Springfield, Va./W. Springfield) and Dickel followed with singles. Dickel's single drove in a run and also glanced off Veilleux's hand, proving to be George Mason's biggest hit of the day as it bounced the pitcher who had handled the Patriots all day. Amanda Shattuck relieved her and got the next batter to line out to Brown at third base. She pulled the string on an off-speed pitch to fan the last batter and get out of the inning, stranding Patriots on second and third.
In George Mason's last at-bat Bailey got on with a single through the middle, but Aiken and Beaver turned a nifty double play on a ball hit up the middle to clear the bases. This proved to be key, when the next batter, Kelsey Mack, homered to left centerfield to make it a 3-2 game with two outs. Dickel grounded out to Beaver to end the game.
Shattuck worked three and two-thirds innings for her third win of the season. She allowed one run on three hits and struck out three batters. The Dragons will go for their first CAA sweep of the season, facing the Patriots in the final game of the three-game series tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
