LORETTO, Pa. (Apr. 19, 2008) - A trio of juniors put the Saint Francis softball team on their backs to carry the Red Flash to their third consecutive Northeast Conference doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon in Loretto. Third-year hurler Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) picked up her third and fourth wins of the week with another strong day on the mound in SFU's 4-1 and 9-5 wins over Mount St. Mary's.
Juniors Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) and Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) combined to drive in 10 runs for the Red Flash.
SFU has now won six straight Northeast Conference games for the first time since the 2001 season. The Red Flash will try to continue that streak when Monmouth comes to town on Sunday for a twinbill beginning at Noon.
Caldwell kept the Mount off the board in Game 1 until after Saint Francis accumulated a 4-0 lead. Stroup singled and scored to give the Red Flash a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and Slingwine laid down a suicide squeeze to make it 2-0 in the third inning. Stroup followed her with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Slingwine worked a two-out walk, stole second base and came around on Stroup's second RBI single of the game to make it 4-0 in the fifth inning.
Jenna Zimmerman had an RBI groundout in the top of the sixth inning to cut SFU's lead to 4-1, but Caldwell got a flyout to get out of the jam.
Caldwell allowed just one run on five hits, struck out two and walked one in the complete game victory.
Sophomore Jerrica Smith (Breezewood, Pa. / Everett) started Game 2 and struggled as Mount St. Mary's jumped out 3-0 in the first inning behind a two-run home run from Amanda Burk and an RBI single by Jess Burke.
Senior Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) doubled to lead off the bottom half of the first inning, and eventually scored on an RBI single by Slingwine to make it 3-1. An RBI single by Burk made it 4-1 in the top of the second inning, forcing Smith out of the game.
Caldwell entered with the bases loaded and just one out, but got a pair of line drive outs to Slingwine at shortstop to escape the jam. The third out of the inning was a spectular diving catch by Slingwine in the hole between shortstop and third base.
Caldwell pitched a scoreless third and fourth innings until the Red Flash bats came alive. Sophomore Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) started a fourth inning rally with a one-out single. Bender and sophomore Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) each followed with singles to load the bases before Slingwine belted a two-run single to the centerfield wall to pull SFU within 4-3. Junior Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) plated Cortese with a game-tying single up the middle.
Saint Francis continued its offensive onslaught in the fifth inning with an RBI single by Slingwine followed by a three-run home run by Stroup to give the Red Flash a 9-4 lead.
Caldwell surrendered a solo home run to Lisa Curreri in the sixth inning to complete the scoring in SFU's 9-5 victory.
Caldwell pitched 5.2 innings to earn her second win of the day, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out three and walking one.
Game Notes: Caldwell pitched a total of 12.2 innings on the day, allowing just two runs on nine hits while striking out five and walking two. She compiled a 1.11 ERA and allowed opposing batters to hit just .184 off her… Caldwell is 4-0 this week with one save and a 1.45 ERA in six appearances… Bender scored four runs on the day, giving her a school-record 107 during her career… Stroup drove in six runs on the day, bringing her career total to 95, which is fourth on the school's all-time list.
