FAIRFAX, Va. - Towson earned a crucial doubleheader sweep of Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason Friday, evening the Tigers' CAA record to 7-7 with a 5-2 win in game one and a 6-5 win in game two.
Senior pitcher Paige Martin, who had made just one appearance in the circle until Friday, was brilliant in game two for the Tigers (22-23 overall) in relief. After the Patriots scored five runs in the second inning, Martin entered the game and threw 5.2 innings of shutout relief to earn the victory.
"I'm so proud of Paige," Towson Head Coach Lisa Costello said. "She came in and really battled. We were just waiting to scratch our way back into the game, and we were able to do it."
The Tiger bats awoke in the seventh inning, as the team scored four runs to earn the win after trailing 5-2. After Andrea Stevenson singled to the left side and Haley Stueckler reached base on a fielder's choice, freshman shortstop Hailey Balk hit a double that scored Stueckler and Stevenson to make the score 5-4 in favor of George Mason. Third baseman Delanie Dunham would then hit a two-run double of her own to give the Tigers a 6-5, the eventual margin of victory.
In game one, the Tigers received a record-setting performance from ace pitcher Katie Lingmai. The junior broke her own single-season Towson strikeout record in the win. With five strikeouts in the game Friday, Lingmai's new record stands at 172. Last season as a sophomore, she set the previous record with 171.
The Tiger offense helped Lingmai get her 13th win of the season by pounding out 11 hits, including three from Stevenson and two each from Dunham and Balk.
With hits in game one and game two, Balk extended her hitting streak to 15 games, which ties her with Julia Capelli and Lisa Pollack for the second-longest in Towson history. Capelli had her streak in 1997, while Pollack did so in 2001. Jen Weaver holds the longest hit streak in school history with 29, set in 1996.
The Tigers will play the final game of the series at 11 a.m. Saturday. The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. but was moved for weather concerns.
