TAMPA ? The University of South Florida softball team swept the first day of the Louisville Slugger Tournament with victories over UNC Greensboro, 5-2, and Illinois State, 4-0.
GAME ONE ? USF 5, UNC GREENSBORO 2
A first-inning homerun by junior catcher Cat Olnick helped the Bulls earn a 5-2 victory in their season opener against the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans.
“It's always nice to jump out 2-0 after the first day,” said USF softball head coach Ken Eriksen. “I thought our pitchers did a great job with their control and ball-strike ratio today. They got us out of some crucial jams. With a 2-0 lead and runners on first and second, Kristen Gordon came in and did nothing short of what is expected. If we get that effort out of those type of people, then we have an opportunity to do some great things.”
USF collected all five of its runs in the first inning and maintained its lead over the Spartans with strong defense through the seventh inning. Centerfielder Janine Richardson drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and advanced to second as right fielder Tara Toscano grounded out to third. Senior Britta Giddens laid down a bunt that saw her aboard safely while advancing Richardson to third. Giddens stole second to put two runners in scoring position for designated player JoJo Medina. Medina walked to load the bases for the Bulls. Junior Alison Savarese singled up the middle, scoring both Richardson and Giddens to give USF an early 2-0 advantage.
Still in the first frame, Olnick would step to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second, sending a long ball over the left field wall to increase the Bulls lead to 5-0.
“It's a good win and a good start to the season,” said Olnick. “I have a lot of high expectations for myself this season. It felt good and it is a great start for me.”
Three base hits and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning allowed the Spartans to score leadoff batter Brittany Ausley, cutting the USF lead to 5-1. UNCG cut the deficit again with an unearned run in the second inning but was shut down by the USF pitching staff through the remainder of the game.
Senior Bree Spence started the game in the circle for the Bulls, pitching four complete innings. Spence faced 19 batters, striking out four and allowing just one earned run. Junior Kristen Gordon relieved Spence in the fifth inning and shut down the Spartans, striking out four of eight batters faced and allowing only one hit in two innings of work. Freshman Candace Howell saw her first action in a Bulls uniform, entering in the seventh inning and earned the save, quieting the Spartans bats by striking out two of three batters faced.
GAME TWO ? USF 4, Illinois State 0
In game two against the Illinois State Redbirds, senior pitcher Cristi Ecks earned the win for the Bulls in the circle throwing five innings and striking out eight. She started the game by striking out five of the first six batters.
“I expect our team to do big things this year,” said Ecks. “I think we proved in our first two games that we have the hitters, we have the lineup and we have the players to win this season. I think we set the tone this year with those first two games.”
In the second inning, the Bulls got on the board when the Bulls strung together two hits to get across the first run of the game. Becky Frye scored on a bases loaded walk to have USF take the early lead.
The Bulls broke the game open in the final frame when junior Toscano walked to lead off the inning followed by a Giddens single through the left side of the infield. After Savarese roped a shot to right center that scored two runs and pushed the score to final of 4-0.
“Cristi did a great job,” said Eriksen. “To get the leadoff batter on and do what she did and knock the other team down, it gave us a great opportunity to score some runs. It made our team relax a lot. Bree Spence and Cristi Ecks are two pitchers who were really injured at the end of the last season, I can't say enough off about what they did.”
The Bulls will be back in action Saturday for day two of the Louisville Slugger Tournament. USF is scheduled to play at 1:30 p.m. against Minnesota and again at 6 p.m. against the University of North Florida.
