|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| L - O'Connell |
1.2 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
TAMPA - Senior
Tara Toscano and the University of South Florida softball team (21-21 overall, 6-5 BIG EAST) led the Bulls to a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers (23-18, 7-6) in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader.
"Tara Toscano is our team's MVP for two reasons," said USF head coach Ken Eriksen. "No one is going to see the little things that she does everyday like moving runners and sacrificing her body, sacrificing her at-bats and driving in runs when it counts. If you go by her batting average she will never win an award but if you go by the size of her heart, she gets all the awards."
After being shut out in Game 1, the Bulls busted open the bats, scoring three runs in the first inning. Sophomore Janine Richardson, who led the Bulls is the first game with two hits, started off the bottom of the first with a single to centerfield. After Richardson and Toscano, who had walked to get on base, recorded a double steal, senior JoJo Medina doubled down the right field line with no outs to give the Bulls an early 2-0 lead.
With the two RBI, Medina moved in ninth place on USF's all-time career RBI list with 109, surpassing Lea Mishlan who had 108.
"I liked the way JoJo came through in the clutch for us," said Eriksen. "We are trying to piece it together and hopefully keep it going."
Still in the first, Savarese singled through the left side, putting pinch runner Becky Frye on third. With the Bulls second double steal of the inning, Frye easily touched home, extending USF's lead to three.
Tara Toscano hit her second triple of the year in the second inning, recording her 10th RBI. It is the first time the senior has reached double-digit RBI in a season in her career.
Still in the game, Brittany Bowles continued to shut down Pittsburgh. Through four innings of work, Bowles held the Panthers scoreless and to just one hit.
"I thought Brittany battled today," said Eriksen. "Brittany needed to win that game for us and she did a fantastic job."
The Panthers cut the lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth on a single up the middle by Holly Stevens, scoring Ashley Amistade.
The Bulls answered back in the sixth, getting the run back by a Toscano single as the second baseman got her second RBI and hit of the game.
Redshirt sophomore Capri Catalano entered the game in the sixth inning with a runner on and nobody out. The North Brunswick, N.J., native hit a batter with one out but rebounded to strike out the next two batters, ending the Panther rally.
Catalano earned her second save of the season and eighth of her career, moving her into a tie at sixth place with former All-American Leigh Ann Ellis.
"I saw some flashes of two years ago when Capri was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year," said Eriksen. "She threw the ball real well and I am excited for her."
With the win, the Bulls are five wins away from the program's 1,000th victory.
USF continues BIG EAST play with a three-game series against DePaul beginning on Saturday at noon with a doubleheader and concluding the series at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Blue Demons sit in second in conference play, where the Bulls fell to fifth after splitting today's games.
