TUSCALOOSA, AL- Christina Clark (Avon, Ohio/Avon High School) spun a four-hit shutout and Saint Francis made a first-inning run hold up in a 1-0 victory over Southern Miss in the opening game of the 2019 Easton Crimson Classic hosted by Alabama.
Jordan Frank (DuBois, Pa./DuBois Central Catholic) drove in the only run of the game after she was hit by an 0-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning. That was all the help Clark needed as the freshman allowed just four runners in scoring position over seven innings and retired 10 in a row at one point in the contest.
Saint Francis got to former teammate
Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) in the first inning as Mekenzie Saban led off with a single and
Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) and
Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and a walk. After Trahan retired the next two batters, Frank drew the painful RBI to put the Red Flash on top.
Southern Miss' best chance also came in the first inning. A pair of one-out singles and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. Clark was able to escape the jam after the runner on third was ruled to have left early and Clark's lone strike out of the game retired the side.
The pitchers took over over the middle innings as a second inning walk for
Kassidy Troxell (Navarre, Ohio/Perry), a
Brianna Walker (Walworth, N.Y./Gananda) single were the only Red Flash baserunners. Clark sent down 10 straight before a two-out fourth inning double and a walk allowed the Golden Eagles to threaten but a harmless fly out to right ended the inning. Southern Miss again got a runner to second in the fifth but Clark induced a fielder's choice to keep the Eagles scoreless. Neither team would threaten in the sixth or the seventh as a two-out walk in the seventh proved fruitless for Southern Miss.
The win improved Saint Francis to 8-7 on the year and Clark moved to 3-1 on the year and earned her first collegiate shutout. The Red Flash have four more games at the Crimson Classic with two games against Michigan State, one with the host Crimson Tide and another with Southern Miss still on the docket.
