I got up at 9:55 this morning, rolled out of bed, and immediately put on my USF shirt and hat. I grabbed something to eat on my way out to the car, and drove to campus, excited to finally see a USF team in contention for a league title this late in the season. After finding out yesterday that Sara Nevins would be starting both games today, got to the park at around 10:30 hoping see a no-hitter. I guess I forgot that we were going to be facing the 23rd ranked softball team in the country, one whose only losses this season are to teams that have won national championships and are still national powers. Even with that considered, I was confident when I settled into my seat, ready for game one.
Game one started exactly as expected. Sara Nevins walked out to the circle and was dialed in from the beginning. She struck out the first three batters on 14 pitches to get the Bulls a quick trip back into the dugout. Gina Kafalas got hit by the Notre Dame pitcher Laura Winter's first pitch, and Janine Richardson drew a walk, but that was pretty much the highlight of USF's game. Unable to capitalize on the first inning baserunners, the ladies took the field again. Nevins was still in the zone, though, pitching perfectly through the first four innings of the game, only to be matched by Winter's outstanding performance. In the top of the fifth, though, things began to come apart. After a one-out single by Sadie Pitzenberger broke up the perfect game and stole second, Nevins struck out the next batter. It looked like the Bulls were going to be able to escape unharmed until Erin Marrone popped up what looked to be a routine fly ball. Gina Kafalas came in to chase the ball down, but Kelly McCarver was tracking it from left too. The two collided, and the ball fell to the ground allowing Pitzenberger to score. That was the only damage done by the Irish's offense, but it appeared to be all Winter needed. Since the first-inning walk to Richardson, Winter was perfect, retiring all remaining 19 batters in order. Like I said, when I woke up this morning, I hoped to see a no-hitter. I wasn't expecting Notre Dame to be the one pitching it.
Final score: Notre Dame 1, USF 0.
And don't worry, I kept track of the scoring again:
Here's my scoresheet for Notre Dame and for USF
I also kept track of pitch counts and pitcher stats, but I figured this was good enough.
Game two came around at 1:15, and Nevins was handed the ball for her second start of the day. After 107 pitches in game one, it was clear that Nevins wouldn't be around long. the first and second innings went very well for both pitchers, but the third was where things started getting bad. Alexa Maldonado had a leadoff single, and a walk put two on with one out. It appeared that things may not be too bad when Sadie Pitzenberger slapped a ground ball to short, but Janine Richardson misplayed it and it turned into an RBI. The fourth was even worse, when a leadoff single allowed Marrone to come aboard, which was followed by what would be Nevins' last batter. Brianna Jorgensborg bunted to advance the runner, but an errant throw by Nevins rolled all the way into the corner of right field, and Jorgensborg turned a sacrifice bunt into a bunt home run. After 57 pitches in the second game for a grand total of 164, Nevins' day was finally done. By this time, I was pretty much ready to go, seeing how the offense couldn't produce all day. But I had to be strong and finish watching so I could write about it here, so I stuck around. Capri Catalano was able to close out the inning without further damage. Offensively, the Bulls still hadn't found a hit. It wasn't until the bottom of the 6th with two on and one out that Janine Richardson finally recorded USF's first hit of the day, breaking a 13.1 inning hitless streak. The bases were loaded at this point, but Stephanie Medina flew out to left field, followed by an inning-ending groundout by Laura Fountain.
Final Score: Notre Dame 5, USF 0.
My scoresheets for Notre Dame and for USF
I'd like to say I took something positive away from this doubleheader, but there really wasn't anything that looked good all day. The only thing that was remotely encouraging was Nevins' perfect game going into the 5th, but we already knew she could do that. We can only wonder what would have been different if Lindsey Richardson had been healthy for the game, but nothing good can come out of the "what if" game. The offense was, no pun intended (maybe a little), offensive, not being able to record a hit in more than a game and a half. Obviously Notre Dame didn't get ranked #23 in the nation for just no reason, but if USF expects to compete with teams of this caliber they have to be able to manufacture hits and capitalize on baserunners. Defensively, the ladies looked confused at times, even though there were no pre-game position changes. Now, the Bulls have a few days off before going to Chicago to complete their season at DePaul, who still lead the conference. As it looks right now, they're going to have to sweep the Blue Demons and hope Notre Dame drops a bunch of games in these final weeks of the season if they have any expectations of a #1 seed in the Big East championship tournament in Clearwater. Despite the losses today, this softball team has given us a great season, and hopefully we get to see some more of them in the postseason.
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