Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.— The Fire ended their regular season with back-to-back shutouts on the road against St. Thomas University by scores of 2-0 and 7-0, respectively.
Game one of the doubleheader was dominated by freshman
Stef Guercio, who picked up her 16
th win in the circle with a complete game 2-0 shutout. The pitcher from Park Ridge, Ill. allowed only three hits to the Bobcats and struck out 11 St. Thomas batters on the day. This performance marked the fourth time in her freshman campaign that Guercio tallied double-digit strikeout totals, giving her 146 for the season through 143 innings pitched.
Guercio's counterpart from St. Thomas, Jessica Castiglione, pitched a complete game three-hitter in the 2-0 loss. Though the Fire had only three hits in the contest, extra base hits proved valuable in the close competition.
Kiah Ferrell's first triple of the season started things off in the top of the first, as the opposite-field drive off the right field wall scored
Cheyenne Blaha from first.
In the sixth inning,
Sydnie Malloy sent a ball over the wall in left field to double the SEU advantage. Her third home run of the year gave the Fire an insurance run and a 2-0 lead for Guercio to work with.
???????Guercio finished off the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh, recording two strikeouts in the half-inning, and sending St. Thomas down in order.
The Southeastern offense came alive in game two of the day, while the defense and pitching continued to be stout.
Back-to-back hits followed by a throwing error by the Bobcats' catcher allowed
Heather Faulk to score without an out in the first inning. This run was all
Lindsie Scholwinski needed to secure her 19
th win.
The second inning proved detrimental to the Bobcats' chances of avoiding a series sweep. Four runs on four hits allowed the Fire to break open the contest. An RBI double by
Hannah Smith scored
Brianna Perez, who pinch ran for
Cat Maldonado after she singled to center. After Alex Millett reached on a fielder's choice, Malloy came up with an infield single to drive her in. Scholwinski was then able to help her own cause in a pinch-hit situation by sending a double to left field that scored Malloy and Smith.
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Brandee Pietrzak came up big with a timely hit, as she doubled in
Sam Holcomb and
Sammy Jacobson in the fourth inning to make it a seven run game.
Southeastern, who didn't give up a single run in the series, recorded 14 hits in the competition. Seven separate Fire players tallied at least one hit, four of which had multi-hit games. Maldonado ended the contest a perfect 3-for-3.
The second baseman for St. Thomas, Melody Grafals, was the lone offensive threat for the Bobcats. She finished the game with three of the Bobcats' six hits.
Southeastern softball will be back in action in postseason play, which will begin with the Sun Conference Tournament on May 4th.
