DeLand, Fla. ? Senior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) set the Stetson career strikeout record today in a two-hit shutout as the Hatters beat Albany 1-0 to clinch the Hatter Invitational title Sunday at Patricia Wilson Field. Stetson fell 6-4 to Bethune-Cookman in the tournament finale despite home runs from senior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) and sophomore right fielder Rachel Lowe (Okeechobee, Fla.). The Hatters are now 7-4 on the season; Albany completed the weekend 2-3 and B-CU improved to 2-8.
Demers worked around a pair of walks in the seventh inning to strike out the side; her punchout of Great Danes catcher Kat Smith to end the game was the 506th of her career and moved her ahead of Jean Bonnici '98 into first place in Stetson history and eighth place in Atlantic Sun Conference history.
The Hatters scored the only run of the game in the third inning when an error and an Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) infield single loaded the bases; one batter later, Migliori came up with two outs and rapped a 1-0 pitch from Albany's Marissa Powell up the middle for an RBI single, scoring freshman pinch runner Jillian Masucci (Spruce Creek, Fla.).
Demers limited Albany to just two hits all game, a Smith single leading off the top of the third and a Bailey Van Deest double with one out in the fifth. She struck out eight, walked three and did not allow a runner past second base. Redshirt freshman catcher Carolyn Boyd (Germantown, Tenn.) went two for three at the plate in her first career start behind the dish. Powell was solid in the circle for the Great Danes, taking the hard-luck loss after allowing six hits and a single unearned run in six innings with two hits and one strikeout.
The second game of the day was a relatively high-scoring affair that saw the Wildcats take advantage of three Stetson errors in the top of the fourth inning to score three runs without a base hit and erase a 4-3 deficit. Second baseman Simone Ceasar's RBI groundout put B-CU ahead 5-4 and proved to be the game-winning RBI. The Hatters saw their eight-game winning streak against their Volusia County rivals since 2005 come to an end and were foiled in their attempt to pick up their 70th all-time win over the Wildcats.
Migliori hit a three-run home run to right center field, her fourth of the season, in the bottom of the first that wiped out an early 1-0 B-CU advantage. Wildcats starting pitcher Allison Garcia tied the game with a two-run shot off Hatter reliever Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) in the third inning; Lindsey had come on in relief of junior Nicole Peltz (Navarre, Fla.) in the first.
Stetson re-took the lead in the home half of the third when Lowe came up with two out and nobody on base (following a nicely turned Wildcat double play) and slugged a Chastity Sanders offering over the left field wall for her third homer of the year. Sanders, who had started the inning in relief of Garcia, went on to earn her first win of the season.
The Hatters had their chances to rally back but left the bases loaded in the sixth and two runners on base in the seventh. Stetson committed four errors overall in the game.
Lowe notched the first three-hit game of her career and senior left fielder Amanda Bailey (Destin, Fla.) collected a pair of base hits as well. Migliori's home run was the 46th of her career and moved her into a tie for third place in the A-Sun record books with 2003 Mercer alumna Stacy Nagel. She set the Stetson career record last Friday. Lindsey took the loss despite allowing just one earned run in six and a third innings; she waked two and struck out six. Joyce picked up her first stolen base of the season and moved into sole possession of ninth place in Hatter history with 42 career steals.
Sabrina Ferguson and Ashley Taylor had two hits apiece for Bethune-Cookman; Garcia had a team-high two RBI. Sanders allowed one run on six hits and a walk in five innings of relief but did not strike out a batter.
Stetson hosts FIU in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday; former Hatter Carolina Rojas returns to Patricia Wilson field with a Golden Panther squad that is coached by former Stetson assistant Beth McClendon. Jamie Bataille's Hatter Vision webcast and Live Stats are both available online at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
