TAMPA, FEB. 21, 2015 – After getting off to a rough start with two losses on Friday, the Bulls bounced back with two dominating wins over Dartmouth and Marshall on Saturday to advance to tomorrow's championship game at the USF Wilson DeMarini Tournament.
“I'm pretty excited about what's going to happen with the future of this team,” head coach Ken Eriksen said. “We just got to get a little bit more consistent pitching ahead, but you have to give a lot of credit today to both Sammy (Greiner) and Erica (Nunn), they stepped up for us and it was nice.”
The Bulls will get a rematch with No. 16/17 Auburn and a chance to win the tournament title on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at the USF Softball Stadium. The Tigers won the first meeting between the two teams, earning a 6-2 victory on Friday.
Game 1: USF 5, Dartmouth 0
The Bulls picked up their first win of the weekend with a 5-0 triumph over Dartmouth to begin play on Saturday.
Lee Ann Spivey made sure USF got off to a good start, launching a three-run homer to right center field in the first inning to give the Bulls a lead they would never relinquish.
USF added to its lead in the fifth thanks to an error on Dartmouth's shortstop that allowed Juli Weber and Lauren Evans to score after they reached on back-to-back singles earlier in the inning.
Starting pitcher Erica Nunn threw five scoreless innings to pick up her second win of the year. Sam Greiner held the Big Green scoreless for the final two innings while scattering three hits as the Bulls improved to 7-6 overall on the year.
Evans continued her hot streak at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two runs in the win after going 3-for-6 with a home run and an RBI in two games yesterday.
Game 2: USF 18, Marshall 5
The Bulls continued to stay hot at the plate in their second win of the day, scoring a season-high 18 runs while cruising past Marshall in the second semifinal of the day.
Eight different Bulls recorded RBIs and four different players had two or more hits in the victory.
Spivey led the charge yet again, going 2-for-3 with two runs while tying a career-high with four RBIs. The Palm Coast, Fla., native now leads the team with 17 RBIs on the year.
“I think we came out today knowing that we didn't play our best yesterday and we wanted to show people what we were made of and we did a really good job of that today,” Spivey said.
Weber and Evans also had strong games at the dish, combining for three hits, four runs and five RBIs. Freshman Cassidy Boyle chipped in as well with her first-career RBI and multi-hit game.
USF only led by two heading into the sixth inning but then scored five runs to take a commanding lead, drawing three bases loaded walks and scoring two more on a Marshall error.
The Bulls piled it on again in the seventh, scoring another seven runs to blow the game wide open.
Sam Greiner pitched four innings and struck out four batters to improve to 3-1 this season while USF moved to 8-6 overall on the year.
The Bulls conclude play at the USF Wilson DeMarini Tournament at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday against in the championship game against Auburn. Purchase tickets HERE.
Be sure to follow USF softball on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. The USF softball program has been one of the most successful on campus, making 12 NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Women's College World Series in 2012. The Bulls made their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament last season and posted their 14th season with 40 plus wins under head coach Ken Eriksen.
- #GoBulls –
