Huskies snap losing skid

Updated: April 13, 2011 3:34PM

It should be pretty hard to remember the last time Oak Park-River Forest had a six-game losing streak.

The Huskies avoided losing their seventh in a row Monday at Queen of Peace. OPRF broke out of an offensive slump as Alana Weitzenfeld went 4-for-4, scored two runs and drove in two runs in the Huskies' 9-6 nonconference victory.

OPRF matched its season total for most runs in a game and won for the first time since beating Loyola 9-4 on March 28.

The Huskies (2-8) scored five runs in the fourth inning off losing pitcher Jess Kelly, who gave up 15 hits, walked one and struck out three.

OPRF entered the game scoring a total of seven runs in its previous four games, including a 6-1 loss to Glenbard North Saturday.

"It feels nice," Weitzenfeld said. "We've had such a good record in the past. Keeping up that tradition is hard. We have a good team. We got our hitting and fielding together today."

Leadoff hitter Kristi Gierman went 2-for-4 and Kelly went 3-for-4 for Peace (3-5). Gierman hit a solo home run over the center field fence to open the fifth inning. The Pride threatened with three runs in the bottom of the sixth with one out when Sara Szulczewski smacked a pinch-hit, two-run single to pull Peace to within three runs.

Freshman Emma Baldwin entered the game with no outs in the sixth and allowed two hits and one run. Sarafina Andreoli earned the win for the Huskies despite giving up five runs and eight hits in five innings.

"They came to play. I thought they hit the ball and we didn't," Peace coach Nikki Schuck said. "We've had days where we haven't hit at all."

OPRF batted around during the five-run fourth. The Huskies scored all of their runs with two outs and had four consecutive hits. OPRF hit four doubles in the game, three of them in the fourth. Maureen Puccetti, Ann Ryan and Weitzenfeld had three consecutive RBI hits. After Olivia Shagam walked, Annie Ford hit an RBI single up the middle and then Shagam scored the inning's fifth run on a throwing error from center fielder Maddi Cozzi.

"[Kelly] did everything she is supposed to," Schuck said. "It seemed like they hit every single pitch I called."

The Huskies have never had a losing season in coach Mel Kolbusz's 19 seasons. OPRF went 21-17 last season, but the fewest wins Kolbusz has ever had was when the Huskies went 18-17 in 1998.

"We have a big game tomorrow [Tuesday]," Weitzenfeld said. "Trinity has never beaten us."

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