LORETTO, Pa. (Apr. 30, 2008) – Junior Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) pitched another gem in Game 1 and junior Janelle McCoy (New Paris, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) laid down a perfect suicide squeeze for the game-winner as the Saint Francis softball team swept the University of Pittsburgh, 6-0 and 5-4, in non-conference action on Wednesday in Loretto.
Caldwell struck out eight and walked none in a complete game shutout to help SFU snap an 11-game losing streak against the Panthers in the first game. The Red Flash had not defeated Pittsburgh since the 2001 season.
The Panthers bounced back from a 4-0 deficit to tie Game 2 in the seventh inning, but McCoy plated pinch-runner Christina Aulbach (York, Pa. / Dallastown Area) with the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning. Freshman Raquel Rugani (Montour, Pa. / Montour) laced a one-out single up the middle and was replaced on the base paths by Aulbach. Senior Richele Hall (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) drilled a hard liner to centerfield that hit halfway up the fence for a double to put runners on second and third with one out. McCoy then placed a perfect suicide bunt down the third base line to easily score Aulbach with the game-winner.
It marked Saint Francis' first doubleheader sweep of Pittsburgh since the 1998 season. The Red Flash improved to 22-32 with the sweep, giving them momentum heading into a crucial Saturday doubleheader with Monmouth. SFU will battle the Hawks for the final playoff berth in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament. The Red Flash need one win in the two games, while Monmouth needs a sweep to secure the final playoff spot. The twinbill begins at Noon on Saturday at the Red Flash Softball Field.
Caldwell has been fantastic over the past three weeks, and she continued her hot pitching into Wednesday's first game. She retired the side in order in the first inning, and was staked to a 2-0 lead by the time she took the mound again. Senior Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) started it all with a leadoff single, the 58th hit of her brilliant season, breaking SFU's single-season record for hits in a year. Junior Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) opened the scoring with an RBI groundout, and junior Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) added an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Caldwell was the beneficiary of a heads-up play to end the top of the second inning. With Sam Card standing on second base after a leadoff single, Megan Livesey hita soft liner that died when it landed just in front of second base for a single. Junior Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) faked a throw to first base, but pivoted and threw home to nail Card trying to score to end the inning.
Caldwell worked out of another jam in the third inning with the bases loaded, but got Card, Pittsburgh's leading home run hitter, to strike out swinging.
Saint Francis then stringed together a four-run inning in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Sophomore Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) hit a two-run triple to the fence in left-center field, while Slingwine and Waligora added RBI hits.
Caldwell retired the final four batters she faced in the game. She scattered five hits in the game to record her team-leading 12th win of the season.
Slingwine hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning of Game 2, and Waligora added an RBI double later in the inning to give sophomore pitcher Jerrica Smith (Breezewood, Pa. / Everett) a 2-0 lead to work with.
Waligora and Hall added RBI singles in the third inning to make it 4-0 SFU.
But the Panthers began to slowly chip away, mostly using the long ball to get back in it. Smith, who retired the first seven batters she faced, found herself in a bases loaded, no-out situation to begin the fourth inning. She walked Kayla Zinger on four pitches to force in Pittsburgh's first run of the day. But Smith buckled down and got out of it with two strikeouts and a bunt force out to keep it 4-1 in favor of the Red Flash.
Reba Tutt led off the fifth inning with a solo home run and Mary Hecker followed suit with a leadoff homer in the sixth inning to make it 4-3. Smith retired the first two batters of the seventh inning, but Jessica Dignon hit a liner over the fence in left field to tie the game at 4-4.
Both coaches agreed to wave the international tie-breaker rule going into the eighth inning, when the Panthers were retired in order by Smith, setting up McCoy's heroics.
Game Notes: Caldwell is 9-2 with one save, 76 strikeouts and just eight walks over her last 68.0 innings of work, which spans 13 appearances… Waligora is hitting .409 with five doubles, seven RBIs, four runs scored and a .490 on-base percentage over her last 18 games… Slingwine is hitting .407 with three doubles, four home runs, 19 RBIs, 14 runs scored and a .685 slugging percentage over the last 18 games. She is also 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts during that span.
