DeLand, Fla. ? Senior shortstop Lindsay Wightman (Surrey, B.C.) homered in both games of the doubleheader tonight as the Stetson softball team (8-5) defeated Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman twice by scores of 3-2 and 15-1 to kick off play at the 2008 Hatter Invitational. The 15 runs scored in the nightcap were the most by the Hatters since a 21-0 pasting of Palm Beach Atlantic Feb. 20, 1999.
Stetson had to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win the opener after the Wildcats (0-11) pushed across a pair in the top of the second inning. With two out and the bases loaded, second baseman Sonya Urteaga singled to center field to score one and the next batter, center fielder Ashton Hinds, followed with a perfectly placed infield single to bring home the second run.
Stetson junior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) clamped down on B-CU from there, however, striking out the final batter of the inning and then allowing just one more hit and no runners past second base the rest of the game. She earned her fourth win of the season, scattering three hits, striking out six and walking three in a complete game.
The Hatters tied the game in the bottom of the third inning. Senior left fielder Nicole Forbes (Tampa, Fla.) reached on an infield single with one out and immediately came home when junior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) rocketed her fourth home run of the year over the left-center field fence. Stetson went on to put two more runners on base in the inning but Wildcat starter Allison Garcia ultimately held the home team off the scoreboard.
The game remained knotted 2-2 until the bottom of the fifth when Wightman stepped to the plate with one out, worked the count to 3-1, and then drove Garcia's next pitch out of the park to left field to give Stetson a 3-2 advantage they would maintain the rest of the way. Demers set the final nine B-CU batters down in order to give the Hatters the win.
Migliori and Wightman each added a single to their home runs while senior right fielder Amy Peters (Niceville, Fla.) singled and stole a base. Hinds had two hits for Bethune-Cookman. Garcia took the loss after giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks in seven innings; she struck out two.
Stetson took advantage of seven Wildcat errors, five in the first two innings, to pile up its highest scoring total in nine years. All nine runs charged to B-CU starter Taryn Hernandez were unearned due to the errors. The Hatters plated six runs in the top of the first inning (they played as the designated visitors in the second game).
The first two came in when Hernandez overthrew first base on senior catcher Blythe Golden's (Marianna, Fla.) comebacker to the circle. Junior right fielder Amanda Bailey (Destin, Fla.) contributed a two-run single and freshman Rachel Lowe (Okeechobee, Fla.), batting for only the second time at Patricia Wilson Field, delivered a pinch-hit two-run double to right center field to bring in two more runs.
Stetson scored in all five innings, including a towering solo home run to left field by sophomore pitcher Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) in the fourth and a grand slam off the bat of Wightman in the fifth that brought the Hatters to the 15-run mark. Both blasts were hit against relief pitcher Chastity Sanders.
Wightman walked twice and scored twice while Lindsey helped her own cause in the circle with two hits and three RBI. Freshman third baseman Katelyn Perna (St. Petersburg, Fla.) doubled and junior second baseman Leo Carre?o (Miami, Fla.) singled and scored twice.
Hernandez was the hard-luck loser, forced into giving up nine unearned runs on just three hits and three walks in three innings. Sanders let in six earned runs in two innings on five hits and three walks. Lindsey earned her fourth victory, scattering one run on two hits and a walk in three innings, striking out three. Sophomore Nicole Peltz (Navarre, Fla.) finished up with two scoreless frames and three strikeouts of her own.
The Hatter Invitational continues tomorrow with games involving B-CU, Alabama State and South Alabama. The Wildcats and ASU meet in the opening game at 10 a.m. and stay on the field to face South Alabama immediately afterwards.
Stetson takes on Alabama State at 3 p.m. with a contest against South Alabama right afterwards. Jamie Bataille will call every pitch of the Stetson games with live video available through Hatter Vision on the official online home of Stetson Athletics, www.gohatters.com.
