Slawny, St. Viator make themselves at home in victory over BG

After playing on the road the first two weeks of the season, including four games in Florida, St. Viator's softball team returned to Arlington Heights this week.

And the Lions have looked quite comfortable back home as well.

They won their second straight on their own diamond Tuesday, handing Buffalo Grove (8-1) its first loss.

Senior Melanie Slawny (3-0) kept her record perfect with a 7-5 victory and also helped her own cause by going 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.

But she'll be the first to tell you that she got plenty of help from her offense and defense.

Junior first baseman Julie Sweeney belted her third homer of the season and went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI while senior Bridget Urbanus clubbed her first homer, a leadoff blast well over the center field fence in the fourth inning.

In all, the Lions (6-1) had 11 hits, including 2-for-3 efforts from sophomore shortstop Alexandra Flasch and senior second baseman Amanda Presslak.

"It's great to have a strong offense behind you," said Slawny, whose first-inning double cut the Bison lead to 2-1.

"We were hitting well and that helps a lot. The great defense also made it easier for us to come back."

The Lions came back from Florida with 3 wins, a loss and a united team.

"We came back a new team," Slawny said. "We bonded real well in Florida."

Buffalo Grove's undefeated record provided the Lions even more motivation.

"That drove us to play even harder, especially on our own field," Slawny said.

Sweeney's 2-run blast over the left-field fence in the bottom of the third gave the Lions the lead for good at 3-2.

They scored twice more in the inning on an RBI single by Flasch and a bases-loaded walk to Angelica Dickey for a 5-2 cushion.

"To be honest, I wanted to pound the ball after striking out the time before," said Sweeney, who was the winning pitcher in a 5-1 win over Niles North on Monday. "I really wanted to come back and help pick up my team."

Bison leadoff batter and catcher KC Dunne and cleanup hitter Emily Begnel, both juniors, helped picked up the Bison offense, each going 3-for-4.

Begnel ripped a double to left center and came home with two outs on Becca Winters' single to left, cutting the deficit to 7-5 in the seventh.

Erin Barton, Andrea DiPrima, Sara Penelle and Jessie Lazzara also had hits for BG.

"I think St. Viator did a great job," said Bison coach Laura Stock. "They had some key hits and we made some mistakes that made it worse.

"Early in the game, we wasted baserunners and that came back to bite us. They deserved to win. They hit well, played good defense and are well-coached."

Bison junior pitcher Maria Dax (5-1) retired the last six batters she faced.

"I thought she (Dax) located the ball well," said Viator coach Dan Twarog. "Our motivation this game was from last year when we lost a 9-inning game to Buffalo Grove 2-1. The girls didn't want to let it happen again.

"Buffalo Grove is a well-coached team and fundamentally sound. I told our girls that to come from a 2-0 deficit shows the positive strides they are making."