DeLand, Fla. -- With a berth to the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament at stake, the Stetson softball team pounded out 17 runs on 19 hits en route to a 8-0 and 9-1 doubleheader sweep over visiting Belmont Saturday afternoon at Patricia Wilson Field.
With the two victories, the Hatters (22-29, 5-15 Atlantic Sun) clinched the sixth and final seed for next month's tournament and qualified for postseason play for the 10th year in a row.
Junior Katie Lawrence went 5-for-7 with a grand slam and seven RBI in the doubleheader to lead the offense, while Andrea Migliori also went deep in the first game. Amanda Lindsey tossed a two-hit, five-inning shutout in game one to improve to 11-13 on the season. She struck out five and did not allow a runner past second base.
The Hatters set the tone early scoring two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning. Amy Joyce led off with a triple and scored on Migliori's 12th home run of the season, also her third round-tripper this week. Joyce finished the day 4-for-6 with four runs scored.
The Hatters added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-out, two-run double by Lawrence. Stetson plated four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game. Joyce recorded an RBI single, Migliori and Amanda Bailey each drove in runs with fielder's choice ground balls, and Chelsey Trotto drew a bases loaded walk to force in the winning run.
That set the stage for a winner-take-all game two, and again Stetson jumped out to a quick lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Brittany Knipp doubled home Trotto and Jessica Lokeinsky for a 2-0 Stetson advantage. After Joyce reached on an infield single, Belmont elected to walk Migliori intentionally to load the bases. Lawrence made that decision backfire as she skied a grand slam home run that hugged the third base line but stayed fair past the left field foul pole. It was her first career grand slam and it gave Stetson a 6-0 lead.
That was more than enough offense for senior Erica Demers, who allowed just one run and four hits while striking out eight. She improved to 10-14 on the season while picking up career win number 77. Lawrence added an RBI single in the fourth, while Bailey and Trotto drove in the final two runs in the sixth.
Hannah Brenzie had an RBI double to lead the Bruins. Senior Sammi Parks (5-17) started both games for the Bruins and worked a total of 9.1 innings, striking out nine. Despite having two conference games remaining, the Bruins (11-31, 3-15 A-Sun) can do no better than tie Stetson, and the Hatters own the tie-breaker with today's sweep.
Stetson will host the three-day, double-elimination tournament at Patricia Wilson Field May 7-9. Game times will be announced after all the seeds are determined. Video broadcasts will be available on ASun.TV.
