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Feb. 27, 2008
Daytona Beach, Fla. - Brandi Holley hit back-to-back homeruns and Allison Garcia collected her second win of the year on the mound to help Bethune-Cookman University sweep a doubleheader of Saint Francis (Pa.) on Wednesday afternoon at Sunnyland Park in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Wildcats (3-13) started off early in the first game as Brandi Holley blasted a solo homerun to centerfield to lead-off the inning, followed by freshman Sonya Urteaga's two-run scoring single that plated classmates Brittani Austin and Anush Mooradian. B-CU led 3-0 after the second inning. With freshman pitcher Taryn Hernandez spinning a gem on the mound, the Wildcats elected to help out the Moreno Valley, Calif. native with two more runs in the third frame. Allison Garcia scored after being walked and later advancing on a dropped fly ball by the Saint Francis (2-6) outfield. Meanwhile, Bussey scored on the same play to put the Wildcats up 5-0 after three innings. Holley led off the fifth inning the same way she did the second--with a solo blast over the centerfield wall to round-out the scoring for B-CU at 7-0. The Red Flash answered with their only score of the first game in the top-half of the seventh inning when shortstop Kelly Slingwine homered to left centerfield to close the gap to the final score of 7-1.
The pitcher of record for the Wildcats was Hernandez picking up her first win of the year to improve to 1-2, while Laura Caldwell took the loss for Saint Francis to drop to 2-2 on the season. Hernandez was touched just twice for the one run [via the solo shot from Slingwine] while striking out three batters in 6.1 innings of work in the pitcher's circle. In the second game, it was a great contest from start to finish as a last at-bat victory would ensue for the homestanding Wildcats. The `Cats stayed hot from the first game early as Hinds walked to kick-start the game, and senior Holly Bussey blasted a RBI double to right center to score Hinds from second. That allowed B-CU take an early 1-0 lead. Saint Francis' Nicki Waligora started off the second inning strong for the Red Flash as she singled off Garcia to start the frame. Following a sacrifice bunt and a ground-out. Waligora stood on third with two outs for teammate Jamie Dixon to single past the glove of third baseman Christina Trimble to tie the game at 1-1 as Waligora crossed the plate. The pitchers for both teams settled in nicely after that until Garcia helped out her own cause with a hard double to right field, followed by a ground-out from Trimble that plated Garcia for the go-ahead run, 2-1. Saint Francis answered back in the top of the seventh to tie the game as Christina Aulbach pinch ran for Hilary McNelis who kicked off the frame with a double-shot to left center. Aulbach was plated on a ground-out from the shortstop Dixon. The score stood at 2-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The heroics were set in the last at-bat when relief pitcher Jerrica Smith took over for Michelle Spisak on the hill. Back-to-back singles from Urteaga and Hinds put pressure on the young pitcher to start off the frame. With runners in scoring position, Holly Bussey delivered a run-scoring single to centerfield to break the tie and give the `Cats a win, 3-2. The winning pitcher was Garcia who went the full way giving up just two earned runs on six hits. The win allowed her to come to 2-8 on the year, while Jerrica Smith took the loss to drop to 1-1 on the year. Leading the way offensively was Bussey with a 2-for-4 game as well as driving in two runs. Urteaga also had two hits in three at-bats. The Wildcats take back to the road this weekend beginning on Friday with a trip to Florida Atlantic for the Miken Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. B-CU will take on Tennessee State, Rutgers, FAU and Illinois. For live stats and other information, please visit the FAU athletic website at www.FAUsports.com. |
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