3/12/10 - Coffee Plus Granny Equals “Sweep”

By Tim Gooszen

Fullerton, CA- Hope International earned a sweep of a doubleheader that took two weeks and 400 miles of relocation to complete with a 6-2 win over Menlo on Friday afternoon.  A grand slam homerun off the bat of Freshman Leslie Coffee was the difference in the game.

An error by the Royals (10-12) in the first inning opened the door for the Oaks (3-13) to push across a run.  In the bottom of the inning, Senior Sheyna Alarcon grounded out to second to drive home Freshman Janelle Medor from third and tie the score at 1-1.  Menlo responded with an RBI single to left to drive home a run and take a 2-1 run lead in the second.

Over the course of the next five innings, Freshman Kayla Uphold scattered three base hits and only allowed a runner past first base twice the rest of the game.  She recorded a strikeout in six of the seven innings to help her cause.

Meanwhile offensively the Royals had runners in scoring position in the second and in the fourth but just could not come up with the big hit.

That all changed in the fifth inning.

Sophomore Alexis Alonzo singled up the middle with the bases loaded to tie the score at 2-2.  Then Coffee, pictured, stepped in and on the very next pitch she crushed the ball over the left field fence.

Uphold did the rest from the circle and improved 7-5 on the season.

On Saturday, the Royals return to GSAC play as they host #11 Concordia at Craig Park at 12:00 pm.

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