DeLand, Fla. ? Junior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) continued her recent torrid hitting with five hits in seven at-bats, including two home runs, as the Stetson softball team (9-6) split a pair of games Saturday in the Hatter Invitational at Patricia Wilson Field. The Hatters blanked Alabama State 8-0 before falling 2-1 to South Alabama.
Against ASU in the opener, junior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) was dazzling for six innings, striking out 10, allowing just one hit and walking none to earn her 24th career shutout and improve to 5-1 on the season. The Hatters got all the runs they needed in the bottom of the second on two bases-loaded walks drawn by sophomore pinch hitter Katie Lawrence (Hilliard, Fla.) and junior second baseman Leo Carre?o (Miami, Fla.) to take a 2-0 lead.
Two more runs came in with two out in the fifth inning. Senior left fielder Nicole Forbes (Tampa, Fla.) worked a walk ahead of Migliori, who blasted a Destinee Sanchez pitch deep over the center field fence to run the score to 4-0. Stetson then ended the game an inning early in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four times to invoke the eight-run rule. Freshman third baseman Katelyn Perna (St. Petersburg, Fla.) drove in a run with an RBI bunt single and Forbes walked with the bases loaded. The next batter, Migliori, lined a hit into center field that brought in Perna and sophomore center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) with the game-ending runs.
Sanchez took the loss with eight runs allowed (six earned) on six hits and seven walks in 5 1/3 innings. She struck out five Hatters as the Hornets fell to 1-13. Alabama State beat Bethune-Cookman 6-0 earlier in the day to pick up its first win of the 2008 season. The 10 strikeouts by Demers made her the sixth pitcher in Stetson history to record 350 career Ks.
Senior shortstop Lindsay Wightman (Surrey, B.C.) drew a walk in the second inning to set the all-time Stetson record with 70 career free passes.
The Hatters took a quick 1-0 lead in the nightcap against South Alabama (5-5) when Migliori hit a two-out solo blast off Lady Jaguar hurler Beth Pilgrim in the first inning. Although she would single in each of her other two at-bats, only two other Hatters managed hits off Pilgrim the rest of the game; singles by Wightman and senior catcher Blythe Golden (Marianna, Fla.). Pilgrim dominated Stetson all night, striking out a career-high 14 batters.
South Alabama tied the game in the fourth inning without the benefit of a base hit. After first baseman Autumn Hudson reached on an error, pinch runner Courtney Chigaros was bunted over to second, advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on a wild pitch by Stetson sophomore Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.).
Lindsey and the Hatters would get out of the inning without further damage, but the Lady Jaguars struck again for what would prove to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth (Stetson played as the designated visiting team). Designated player Tara Donaldson doubled with one out; following an intentional walk and a single that loaded the bases, catcher Kristen Hayes worked a walk that forced in pinch runner Taylor Rich with the winning run. Pilgrim set the Hatters down in order in the seventh to seal the win for South Alabama.
Lindsey pitched well enough to win (six innings, one earned run, four hits, four walks, six strikeouts) but ultimately was undone by slips in control and the dominance of her Lady Jaguar counterpart Pilgrim.
Stetson wraps up play at the Hatter Invitational tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. against Alabama State. Jamie Bataille will broadcast all the action on the official online home of Stetson Athletics, www.gohatters.com, with live video available through Hatter Vision.
