TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2007) ? The University of South Florida softball team extended its win streak to four games on Friday night, posting a perfect record of 2-0 in day one of “The Game” Tournament held at the USF Softball Field.
The Bulls opened up the day defeating Eastern Michigan, 3-2, and posted an 8-1 victory over Drake University.
With the pair of victories, USF record improves to 9-5 on the season.
In game one, bunt singles by Caitlin Schneider and Tara Toscano put runners on for the Bulls with no outs in the bottom of the third inning. After Schneider stole third base, a groundout by Ashley Bullion scored Schneider from third to give USF a 1-0 lead.
The one-run lead didn't last long for USF, as Eastern Michigan (0-2) evened the score thanks to a Lindsay Schmid home run in the top of the fourth. The Eagles had more opportunities to break the stalemate in the inning, loading up the bases, but were unable to bring anyone home.
In the top of the fifth, the Eagles broke the tie and scored a run, 2-1. A USF fielding error and a wild pitch put the go-ahead run at third base for Schmid, who tallied her second RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Bulls quickly bounced back in the bottom of the inning and scored the equalizer. Laura Wolf led off the inning with a double to left field. After Melissa Rosas came in and pinch ran for Wolf, a single by Schneider scored the tying run.
With the game tied at two, Courtney Mosch led the Bulls to the victory in the bottom of the sixth inning, hitting her second-consecutive game-winning home run to put the score at 3-2.
Starting pitcher Bree Spence opened up the game and received a no-decision, leaving the game in the fifth inning with the score tied 1-1. Spence pitched four innings and allowed one run on seven hits. She posted five strikeouts in the outing, putting her career total at 284, and she retired the side in the first inning on Ks.
Schneider ended the game going 2-for-2 with two RBI and Toscano and Britta Giddens each were 2-for-3.
Freshman Kristen Gordon (2-1) picked up the win, relieving Spence in the fifth inning. In three innings, she scattered only two hits while striking out five.
In game two, USF jumped out to the early lead thanks to the bat of JoJo Medina. Aya Nakajima opened up the bottom of the first reaching first base after getting hit by a pitch and then stole second base. Medina came up to bat and drove her home with a single to deep center. The ball looked like it was going to carry out of the park, but it bounced off the fence for the base hit.
The Bulls offense exploded in the third inning, adding five runs for a 6-0 lead. After USF quickly loaded up the bases, consecutive singles to shallow center field by Bullion and Alison Savarese brought in the first two scores. With the bases still occupied, freshman second baseman Lauren Rodriguez continued the RBI trend and drove in a run off of a sacrifice fly to right field. Nakajima extended the USF scoring opportunity, driving in Bullion from third with a base hit up the middle. Giddens tallied the final RBI of the inning after she got hit by a pitch with the bases full.
In the top of the fifth inning, Drake (3-7) added a run to the board ending the shutout, 6-1. Emily Hajduk led off the inning with a base hit and eventually scored off of a Mandy Osborn RBI single.
The Bulls added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, extending their lead to 8-1.
Mosch got the start in the circle and improved her record to 2-1 on the year. In six and two-third innings, she allowed one run off of four hits and struck out five.
Bullion went 3-for-4, tallied two RBI and scored two runs. Rodriguez was a perfect 2-for-2 with an RBI and catcher Cat Olnick had a 2-for-3 outing.
USF will continue tournament action on Saturday when it faces Alabama-Birmingham at 1 p.m.
