GAME ONE BOX | GAME TWO BOX
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Laura Saladrigas (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) slammed her 13th homerun of 2012 to break the single-season record and
Sara DeMuth (Sr., Plant City, Fla.) became the first Shark ever to record 300 strikeouts in a season as the Nova Southeastern softball team (31-19) defeated St. Thomas (9-20) twice Wednesday. The Sharks, who moved up to eighth in the South Region poll earlier in day, won game one, 6-1, and then took the second game of the doubleheader, 8-5.
Game One Recap
The Sharks used a five-run sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie, defeating the Bobcats, 6-1, in the first of two games Wednesday. DeMuth sat down 11 batters, while also recording two hits, two RBI and a run scored in the victory.
St. Thomas notched the first run of the game in the opening half inning. Carissa Albizu knocked a single up the middle to bring in Carley Distasio and give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.
The next two and one half innings would pass without incident before the Sharks got on the board in the fourth.
Katie Kelton (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) opened the inning with a four-pitch walk and then advance to third over the course of the next two batters. With two outs, DeMuth hit an infield single to the shortstop that allowed Kelton to score, evening the game at 1-1.
After a scoreless fifth, the Sharks would show their offensive prowess with five tallies in the bottom of the sixth.
Gina Bondarenko (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) started things off with a one-out single. DeMuth would follow with her second triple of the season, plating the pinch-running
Marissa Raimo (Jr., Hampton Bays, N.Y.) and give NSU a lead it would only add to.
Melanie Spicola (Fr., Umatilla, Fla.) and
Dani Millan (So., Ventura, Calif.) would both reach safely to load the bases. With just one out, a pinch-hitting
Ashley Silveira (Jr., Miami, Fla.) would rocket a double to left center and clear the bases. Silveira’s three RBI extended the Sharks advantage to 5-1. Kelton would register the final RBI of the inning with a single up the middle to score
Raven Sepulveda (Fr., Tampa, Fla.).
The 6-1 score would stand as the final, as DeMuth capped her 23rd win of the season with a strikeout of Distasio to end the game. DeMuth allowed only three hits in the game, while she and Bondarenko each recorded two hits at the plate.
Game Two Recap
Laura Saladrigas hit her 13th homerun of the season, while going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, to move ahead of Lauren Lopez and Katie Veltri as the single-season homerun leader in NSU history. DeMuth, who came on in relief in the fifth, secured her 300th strikeout in the seventh inning to become the first NSU pitcher to reach the 300 mark in a single season.
The Bobcats once again started the scoring, putting up three runs to begin the contest. Melissa King was credited with the first two RBI on a double to right field, while Anastasia Peck knocked in the third run with a single up the middle.
NSU came back quickly in the bottom half of the first with a pair of runs to reduce the deficit to one, 3-2.
Lorena Spaulding (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) would lead off with a single and score two batters later on Saladrigas’ second triple of the season. Bondarenko would follow with a ground out to second that allowed Saladrigas to race home for the Sharks’ second run.
St. Thomas added another run in the third to push the lead back to two, 4-2, Peck singled to score Danielle Borrelli. Peck would get greedy though and try to extend her hit into a double, but a great relay play by the Sharks’ defense was able to tag her out at second.
The Sharks would take their first lead of the game in the fourth with a trio of runs . Saladrigas provided a bit of NSU history to start the inning when she sent a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield wall for her record-breaking 13th homerun, closing the gap to one, 4-3. Saladrigas joined Lopez and Veltri as the only three players to hit 20 homeruns during their careers at NSU.
Later in the inning, Silveira would notch her fourth RBI of the night when her ground out to short gave DeMuth the chance to score.
Jaimee Vega (Jr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) finished off the scoring in the fourth with a single that plated Spicola.
The Bobcats took advantage of two fielding miscues by the Sharks in the top of the fifth and scored one run to even the game, 5-5.
NSU came right back though with three more runs to put NSU up 8-5. Bondarenko recorded her second RBI of the game with one out on a fielder’s choice play in which Kelton scored. Saladrigas was also able to score on the play due to a Bobcats’ throwing error to put NSU ahead 7-5. Spicola finished up the scoring with a double to left field that brought home Bondarenko.
DeMuth, who needed only three strikeouts to reach the 300 plateau upon coming on in relief in the fifth, reached the mark in the seventh. The senior hurler was able to get King to go down swinging for the second out of the inning to become the first NSU student-athlete to tally 300 strikeouts in a single season. DeMuth would get Borelli to ground out to end the game and the Sharks were able to capture an 8-5 win and finish the season sweep of St. Thomas.
NSU will be back in action Friday when they host Florida Southern in a critical SSC series. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. at the AD Griffin Sports Complex.
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