Bulls Advance To Championship Game

[Brad]

Courtesy USF SID

Bulls Advance To Championship Game; Extend Win Streak To Six Games

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2007) – The University of South Florida softball team advanced to the championship game of “The Game” Tournament, defeating Alabama-Birmingham, 4-2, and Eastern Michigan, 8-0, on Saturday afternoon at the USF Softball Field.

USF, who is seeking its first tournament title of the season, will play UAB at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday for the championship.

With the pair of wins the Bulls extend their win streak to a season-high six games and improve their overall record to 11-5 on the year.

In game one, the Bulls led off the top of the first inning loading up the bases on three walks. USF had two outs to work with and get a runner home, but could not capitalize and left the bases loaded.  

UAB got its own scoring opportunity going in the bottom of the inning and put a run on the board for a 1-0 lead. The Blazers got their lead-off batter on base thanks to a USF error. After a fly out to deep center field advanced Lindsay Stanley to third base, Amanda Antonovich drove her home with an infield single.  

USF answered back and evened the score in the top of the second inning. Consecutive base hits by Alison Savarese and Laura Wolf put runners at first and second base with no outs. Tara Toscano came up to bat and advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, and Aya Nakajima put the tying run on the board with a single to center field.  

In the bottom of the fourth inning UAB regained the lead, adding a run with two outs on the board, 2-1.  

For the first time during the game, the Bulls took the lead, 4-2, they never relinquished thanks to a three-run fifth inning. After Courtney Mosch singled and Jessica Landau doubled to right field, Savarese singled up the middle to score Mosch from third base. Toscano followed that up knocking in the final two runs of the inning with a single to shallow right center.

Freshman Kristen Gordon (3-1) was credited with the win, relieving Cristi Ecks in the first inning when Antonovich’s single bounced off her foot. Gordon pitched four and one-thirds innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out four.  

Junior Bree Spence closed out the seventh inning for the Bulls and picked up her eighth-career save, tying Leigh Ann Ellis for fourth place in the USF record books. Two of the three outs she got were on Ks, putting her three-year total at 286.

After the Bulls earned the No. 1 seed, they faced Eastern Michigan at 3:45 p.m., and won the game, 8-0, in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule.

USF opened up the scoring early in the game, taking a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Nakajima led off with a walk and stole second base. After Britta Giddens was hit by a pitch and Mosch singled to load the bases, freshman catcher Cat Olnick doubled off of the left-field fence and drove home two runs. Ashley Bullion followed that up with a single to right field, scoring Mosch from third base. With two outs and the bases filled, Caitlin Schneider walked home a run and Nakajima tallied an RBI single to close out the scoring.

In the fourth inning the Bulls added two more runs to their lead, 7-0. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Bullion, who was brushed with the ball at the plate to walk in a run. Olnick followed her with a sacrifice fly to right field, netting her second RBI of the game.  

Only needing one run to end the game in the fifth inning, pinch hitter Hillary Wolf ended the game early for USF with an RBI double off of the left-field fence. The freshman’s double was her first-career hit and she netted her first-collegiate RBI.

Mosch (3-1) got the start in the circle and tossed her first-career one-hitter as a Bull. In the shutout win, she struck out five and didn’t allow a walk. The lone hit she gave up was an infield single in the third inning.

[JoeB]

Hopefully Christi's foot  is OK.  We'll need her the rest of the year..........

[The_Reaper]

WTG girls!!! Grab that tourney title!!!