By Christopher Wade
Sunday Gazette-Mail
April 29, 2007
Even when ace Andrea Lewis has a rare off day and doesn’t have her typical outstanding performance, University of Charleston softball coach Annette Olenchick is still all smiles concerning her senior pitcher.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon when Lewis gave up three homers in the second game of their doubleheader split against West Liberty at home.
UC was shut out in the second game 6-0, but defeated the Hilltoppers 4-1 in the first game. With the split, the Eagles are now 30-18 overall and 17-5 in the West Virginia Conference.
“We are going to go with Andrea, win or lose. She’s helped carry us and is having a great season,” Olenchick said.
Lewis has had an incredible season with a record of 29-13 and earned run average of 1.77 coming into the West Liberty doubleheader Saturday.
Her 291 innings of work far exceeds any other pitcher in the conference. West Liberty’s Amber Rankin, who was paired on the mound against Lewis for both doubleheader games Saturday, is second with just 138 innings pitched.
The conference pitcher of the week award has been awarded to Lewis five different times this season as well.
“Me and Andrea go way back. She was there with me for four years at Sissonville and we won three state championships. I was tickled to death when she transferred to UC. Players like Andrea come by once in a blue moon,” Olenchick said.
That’s why Lewis performance in Saturday’s second game against West Liberty was so shocking to Olenchick, especially after she fanned 11 and only allowed three hits in the first-game victory.
Michelle Lee, meanwhile, paced the UC offense in the first game with two hits, including a home run and also drove in two runs. The Golden Eagles trailed 1-0 but scored the game’s final four runs.
In the second game, however, Lewis gave up four runs in the first inning, including back-to-back home runs by catcher Tabi Gretchen and first baseman Vannessa Esenberg to give West Liberty an early 4-0 lead.
The score remained the same until the fifth when Gretchen hit her second home run of the game, a two-run shot to give the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead.
That signaled a rarity for the Golden Eagles: Lewis not finishing up a game on the mound. Michelle Sabelhaus came on in relief in the sixth inning and pitched two scoreless innings for UC.
The lead was clearly enough for Rankin, who limited the Golden Eagles to six hits, three by UC second baseman K.J. Getz. A freshman and South Charleston graduate, Rankin struck out seven UC hitters en route to the shutout win.
“Amber did a great job in the second game and our bats were able to come alive, especially Tabi and Vannessa,” said West Liberty coach Herb Minch.
“We knew coming down here that we had our hands full. We knocked them [UC] out of the tournament last season so I told the girls they would use that as incentive. We are happy to get a win, especially against a great pitcher like Lewis.”
Meanwhile, as the conference tournament looms Thursday through next Saturday in Vienna, Olenchick will certainly be riding the arm of Lewis.
“We just have to make sure she is as rested as possible. She has thrown a lot of innings but we are going to ride her and hope for the best. She brings confidence to the team and they feed off her,” Olenchick said.
Photo and story courtesy of the Sunday Gazette-Mail
