Trinity takes two from tough Leyden squad

Updated: May 7, 2011 6:13PM

Trinity’s best players looked at their Saturday doubleheader showdown with Leyden as a measuring stick. “We knew they were a great team, with a lot of good players,” star Trinity sophomore pitcher Chase Machain said.

“We all talked on the bus over how important the games were and that we wanted to make a statement.”

Tape measure is the more accurate gauge.

The visiting No. 11 Blazers hammered three home runs and seven extra-base hits in hammering the No. 20 Eagles 13-1 and 12-1 for the impressive sweep. The games were played in six and five innings, respectively.

In Game 1, Machain struck out five and allowed just three hits and no walks to improve her mark to 14-2.

“I’ve spent a lot of time working on my pitching, especially my change up and early on I had a success with the off-speed and movement and that helped me get into a very good rhythm against their hitters,” she said.

Trinity produced three separate innings of scoring at least four runs.

Sophomore second baseman Nicole Evans started the offensive onslaught in the top of the first inning by smashing a rainbow solo home run over the left-field fence. “The thing with us, usually it’s one person gets a hit and the whole team feeds off of that and gets hot,” Evans said.

Trinity (21-3) rapped out 13 hits against Leyden ace Morgan Maize (16-3). “They have some good hitters, and a lot of girls with good speed and the difference was they got the timely hits and we didn’t,” Maize said.

Maize redeemed herself by drilling a home run in the second inning that briefly tied the score. “I don’t think the early home run [by Evans] unnerved Morgan,” Leyden coach Kurt Schuett said.

“Because she tends to stop hitting when she does that, and she looked good at the plate. We just made too many fundamental fielding errors. We can’t afford to make our pitchers get four, five or six outs in an inning.”

Sophomore shortstop Abby Ramirez drilled a double down the left-field line to ignite a four-hit, four-run uprising in the third for the 5-1 advantage. In the fifth inning, Evans and Machain hit consecutive doubles to spark another four run outburst.

First baseman Erin Baldwin also drove in three runs. Her two-run triple in the sixth inning turned the game into a rout.

The Blazers showed no let-up in the second game. Catcher Monica Garcia hit a first-inning home run to push her team out to an early 3-0 lead.

Ramirez took charge from there. She drove in four runs with a two-run home run and a two-run triple. She also walked and scored three times against Leyden starter Hannah Seymore (1-2).

The home run was her team-leading eighth of the year. Evans has five. “I didn’t feel like I did that much in the first game to help the team, and I wanted to come out and really do something with my hitting,” Ramirez said.

Starter Brittany Bura limited the Eagles (17-5) to nine hits in extending her mark to 5-1.

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