DELAND, Fla. ? The University of South Florida softball team swept a double header against Canisius on Thursday night, taking the first game, 2-1, and shutting out the Golden Griffins 3-0 in the second game at the Patricia Wilson Field in Deland, Fla.
In the first of two games, Canisius broke the game scoring on a Michelle Fridey left field single to put Canisius on the board.
The Bulls answered with a run of their own when, with two outs in the first, JoJo Medina singled to left field to score Tara Toscano and evened out the score, 1-1.
Freshman Kelly McCarver scored again in the second inning to put the Bulls up 2-1. McCarver, who reached base on a single, took advantage of Canisius' pitching troubles as the freshman advanced to second on a wild pitch and reached home on an illegal pitch.
Junior pitcher Cristi Ecks dominated in the circle striking out the Golden Griffins in order in the third and continued through the fourth as she struck out her seventh consecutive batter, her tenth of the game.
Ecks struck out 11 of 22 batters faced in six innings of work to pick up her fourth win of the season.
Senior Courtney Mosch was credited with the save, her second of the season, as she finished the game shutting out Canisius' batters during the seventh inning.
Medina finished 2-for-3, with an RBI, while leadoff hitter Britta Giddens drew three walks and finished 1-for-1 in game one.
Game 2
Britta Giddens led off the game with a homerun to left field as the Bulls, 24-11, scored all three runs in the 3-0 shutout over Canisius.
In the first inning JoJo Medina drew a walk to load the bases for freshman Kendall Arnold. Arnold drew a second bases on balls to advance all runners and pushed Tara Toscano, who had also reached first on a walk, past home plate to make the score 2-0.
Two batters later, senior Aya Nakajima drew the fourth walk of the inning to score Dunbar for the third run of the frame.
Freshman Capri Catalano pitched the complete game to improve to 7-0 for the season. Catalano, like Ecks, struck out 11 batters, allowed four hits and no walks while shutting out the Golden Griffins in game two.
Giddens finished game two 2-for-4, with one run and an RBI. Toscano went 2-for-2 with one run and Nakajima drew two walks, went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
The Bulls will return home to face Long Island University in a double header on Friday. Those games are slated for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the USF Softball Field.
