GAME ONE BOX | GAME TWO BOX
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern softball team (26-19) and Palm Beach Atlantic (22-21) combined to hit six homeruns over the course of a doubleheader Monday night in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. with each team winning one game.
Gina Bondarenko’s (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) two long balls in game two powered the Sharks past the Sailfish, 6-2.
Game One Recap
NSU tallied eight hits to the Sailfish five, but trailed on the scoreboard after the final out, 3-1, to drop game one of the doubleheader Monday night. All runs in the game came by way of the deep ball with the Sharks hitting one, and PBA two.
The Sharks notched the first run of the game in the second inning, as
Chelsea Emery (Jr., Eustis, Fla.) recorded her second homerun as a Shark. Emery sent the first pitch she saw over the left field wall to give NSU an early 1-0 advantage on the Sailfish.
After a scoreless third, the Sailfish responded in the bottom of the fourth with a deep shot of their own. Camille Benito rocketed a two-run homer over the centerfield wall to put the Sailfish in front, 2-1.
PBA added another tally in the fifth, as Erica Walters hit her third homerun of the season to extend the Sailfish advantage to two runs, 3-1.
NSU would challenge in the top of the seventh, as
Laura Saladrigas (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) launched a pitch to deep centerfield, but Kimberly Traxler was there to catch it right in front of the fence to seal the 3-1 win for the Sailfish.
The Sharks had their chances in the contest, as they stranded nine base runners, while PBA left only three on base.
Game Two Recap
Sophomore catcher Bondarenko slammed a pair of homers and accumulated three RBI, pushing her season total to 30, to help the Sharks defeat the Sailfish, 6-2.
Sara DeMuth (Sr., Plant City, Fla.) picked up her 19th win of the season in the circle for the Sharks, sitting down five batters for the second straight game.
The scoring started in the second inning for NSU, with Bondarenko’s first homerun of the game. Saladrigas led off the inning with a single and after Emery’s sacrifice bunt Bondarenko came up to the plate. The second pitch of the at bat was the money ball for the Sharks, as Bondarenko sailed it over the centerfield wall to put the Sharks up 3-0.
The Sailfish cut the deficit in half with a Mackenzie Johnson homer to lead off the bottom half of the second. NSU would quickly get the run back in their half of the third inning.
Katie Kelton (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) was able to plate
Jaimee Vega (Jr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) with a sacrifice fly to push the Sharks lead back to two runs, 3-1.
The advantage was extended to three, 4-1, in the fourth inning when Bondarenko blasted her second deep ball of the game. Emery provided a couple more insurance runs in the fifth inning, doubling with two outs to drive in Saladrigas and Kelton.
The Sailfish scored once in the bottom of the seventh on an Erica Walters ground-rule double.
Holly Roberson (So., Dunnellon, Fla.) made a great play in the field to close the game, as she tracked down Traxler’s hard hit liner and then threw out Sarah Gosciniak who was trying to score from third.
DeMuth moved to the top of two more lists in the single-season record books for the Sharks, as she started her 36th game and threw her 29th complete game during the 2012 campaign to move ahead of Lexi Sarradet (34 starts, 28 complete games in 2009) in both categories. DeMuth continues to swell her strikeout total, with 10 more Monday she now has 259 this season.
NSU will now have an 11-day break from competitive action. The Sharks will next take on Lynn in Boca Raton, Fla. April 13 at 4 p.m.
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