DeLand, Fla. ? The Stetson softball team (8-12) snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over visiting Liberty (5-12) in eight innings in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader at Patricia Wilson Field. The Lady Flames nipped the Hatters 1-0 in the opening game. Senior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) hit her sixth home run of the season and junior pitcher Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) tied her career high with 14 strikeouts to lead Stetson to the nightcap victory.
Senior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) was the hard-luck loser again in Game 1, surrending zero earned runs in a 1-0 defeat. Liberty's only run scored as the result of an error with two out in the top of the sixth. Sarah Ellis earned the win for the Lady Flames, limiting Stetson to two hits and two walks in seven innings and striking out seven. Demers fanned four Lady Flames. Junior center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) and redshirt freshman third baseman Carolyn Boyd (Germantown, Tenn.) were SU's entire offense with a pair of infield singles.
Junior designated player Katie Lawrence (Hilliard, Fla.) gave the Hatters a 1-0 lead in the nightcap with an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first. That run looked like it would hold up as Lindsey mowed down the Flames to the tune of 11 strikeouts in the first three innings; however, Liberty struck for three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 3-1 advantage. First baseman Beth Bennett ripped an RBI single and then disaster struck again in the form of a dropped bloop popup that allowed two more runs to score with two outs in the inning.
Stetson charged back to tie the game in the bottom of the frame when Joyce drew a two-out walk and Migliori followed with one of her signature massive longballs, this one a two-run shot far over the flagpole in dead center field to make it a new ballgame at 3-3.
Neither team scored again in regulation and when international tie breaker was put into effect in the top of the eighth, the Stetson defense came up with three clutch outs to give its hitters a chance to win it. With hits at a premium, the Hatters concocted the winning run from scratch. With Joyce on second and Migliori intentionally walked to start it off (and then immediately lifted for a pinch runner), Boyd grounded to first base to advance the runners. Another intentional walk, this one to freshman shortstop Chelsey Trotto (Lantana, Fla.) loaded the bases; one batter later, Lindsey induced Lady Flames pitcher Tiffani Smith to issue her eighth and final base on balls of the evening, bringing Joyce home with the winning run.
Joyce walked three times, stole two bases and scored three of Stetson's four runs while Migliori continued her assault on the Stetson record books. The free pass in the eighth tied her with former teammate Lindsay Wightman '08 for the school's career walks record (106 BB) while the two-run homer left her just two RBI shy of the 179-RBI record held by Melissa Wiggins '06. Lindsey gave up two hits, two walks and just one earned run in eight innings. Her 14 strikeouts tied the career high she set on Opening Day (Feb. 6) against Kent State.
The Stetson Classic, the final multi-day tournament of the season at Patricia Wilson Field, is on tap for this weekend with a visiting field that includes NCAA regional finalists Iowa as well as Cornell and Hartford. The Hatters take on Hartford at 4 p.m. Friday and remain on the field to battle the Hawkeyes at 6:30 p.m.
Live Stats and Jamie Bataille's Hatter Vision webcast are available, as always, at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
