PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After splitting yesterday's doubleheader, the University of South Florida softball team (20-20 overall, 5-4 BIG EAST) defeated the Providence Friars (14-22, 4-7) in the rubber game Sunday.
Led by senior Alison Savarese, who had three of the Bulls six hits, USF improved to .500 on the season.
"We did hit the ball hard today and we hit some right at them," said head coach Ken Eriksen. "Ali did a nice job getting us on the board early in the game.
Once again freshman Lindsey Richardson (10-4) earned the win for the Bulls, hurling a complete game for the fifth time in her rookie year. She struck out five, giving up one run and walking two, both intentional to Providence's RBI leader Christy Becker.
"Lindsey throws strikes," said Eriksen. "When you throw strikes and keep extra runners off base you get a great opportunity. It's a really easy formula and the really good ones understand that."
The Bulls were first to put a run on the board as Savarese hit an RBI double in the first inning. With two outs, senior JoJo Medina earned a walk, the 122nd of her career. Catcher Stormi Grzybek singled to put Medina in scoring position. Savarese doubled, bringing home pinch runner Lauren Rodriguez and giving the Bulls the 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, Providence evened the score on a sacrifice fly by Justine Stratton, but the Bulls defense stood strong to hold the Friars for the rest of the game.
In the fourth inning, Megan McCann, who was on second, was thrown out at third on a grounder, removing the threat of a runner in scoring position.
The Bulls plated two runs in the fifth inning, which would eventually be the game-winning run. After Janine Richardson led off with a walk, senior Tara Toscano singled to the shortstop to place Richardson on second with nobody out. After a double steal by Richardson and Toscano, Medina grounded to second, easily scoring Richardson and giving the Bulls the 2-1 lead.
"I also thought JoJo did a nice job hitting the ball to the right side with a runner on third with one out," said Eriksen. "That's all I've asked this year, not to do anything extraordinary and that's what she did. Let's just do the job and task at hand and that was a perfect example."
With a 2-1 count and one out, Grzybek lined a shot to centerfield, forcing a play at home with Toscano and Providence's catcher Teresa Bertels. Toscano slid through Bertels, adding another run to the scoreboard and giving the Bulls the 3-1 lead.
With two-outs in the seventh, Providence rallied, stringing together back-to-back hits, but Richardson forced Stratton to ground out to end the game.
With the win, USF is six wins shy of the program's 1,000th victory.
The Bulls will continue BIG EAST play as they host the Pittsburgh Panthers in a doubleheader matchup on Wednesday at noon.
