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| L - Zanzalari |
2.2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| S - Gordon (3) |
0.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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TAMPA - Sophomore Brittany Bowles tied her career high with eight strikeouts in Game 2 against Seton Hall as the University of South Florida softball team (17-16 overall, 2-0 BIG EAST) defeated the Pirates, 3-2.
The Bulls used five hits to score three runs and added strong pitching by Bowles and senior Kristen Gordon to defeat Seton Hall (7-16 overall, 0-5 BIG EAST) for their second conference victory.
"Our pitchers gave us the opportunity to win the ball games," said Eriksen. "We only walked two batters on the day and both Lindsey (Richardson) and Brittany threw really well. Kristen (Gordon) came in and got a crucial save for us."
Richardson was the winner in Game 1, throwing a complete game shutout as the Bulls won, 7-0.
Sophomore Janine Richardson started the second game with a single up the middle. An erroneous throw by the Pirates' catcher on an attempted steal allowed Richardson to wheel around third and touch home standing up to give the Bulls an early 1-0 lead.
Senior JoJo Medina lifted her 21st career home run over the right-center wall on a 2-1 count to extend the Bulls lead, 2-0, in the third inning.
"It felt good," said Medina. "I was just trying to hit the ball hard and get something going. I was trying to get my focus back this week and not try to do too much."
In the top half of the fourth, Michelle Reed singled up the middle for the Pirates first hit. Reed was thrown out by Cat Olnick who zipped the ball down to Tara Toscano at second to not allow Seton Hall to touch second base for 11 straight innings.
Catcher Jamie Gates cut the Bulls lead in half as she sent a ball over the left field fence in the fifth inning to make it 2-1.
The Bulls added their eventual game winning run in the sixth inning. Junior Kendall Arnold walked and reached second on an Alison Savarese lined single off the left field wall. After Olnick advanced both runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, Seton Hall intentionally walked Laura Fountain to force a play at home. Pinch hitter Lauren Rodriguez thought otherwise as she stepped to the plate and singled up the middle on a 0-2 count.
"Lauren Rodriguez did a great job coming in and knocking in a crucial run," said Eriksen.
Bowles continued to throw in the bottom half of seventh inning, but a two-out home run by pinch hitter Kristen Kaelin forced Eriksen to bring in Gordon to close out the game.
With the 3-2 lead, Gordon forced Brooke Tull to ground out to Alexis Nowell at second for her third save of the season. She now has nine saves for her career, moving her up a spot into a tie for fifth place all-time with Jennifer Thompson.
Bowles (4-6) threw 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. The righty struck out eight batters while only limited the Pirates to one walk.
With the two wins, the Bulls are nine wins shy of the program's 1,000th victory.
The Bulls continue the series against Seton Hall with Game 3 at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the USF Softball Stadium.
"I don't think you can be satisfied after today," said Eriksen. "Tomorrow is a new day and we have to come out and play three times harder than we did in Game 1 and 2."
Tomorrow all former Bulls will be able to watch the current Bulls for the last softball alumni event at the USF Softball Stadium ever during the 2010 Alumni Reunion.
