Softball heats up in Florida, finishes trip 11-1

March 10, 2008 —

The weather in Michigan may not be ideal for softball yet, but, the Cardinals managed to get a few games in as they spent the week in Florida, where they finished 11-1.

The Cards started off the road trip sweeping a doubleheader in two completely different fashions. In the first game, they brought out the bats in a high scoring 8-6 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. In the second game, the Cardinals relied on strong pitching from sophomore pitcher Kari Bowlby, who pitched six scoreless innings.

The Cardinals came back the next day looking to add to the first two wins of the long road trip. In their next doubleheader, the Cards used seventh inning rallies in both games to come out on top once again.

Junior pitcher Stacy Kraatz allowed only three hits in another game, and ended in a 1-0 victory for the Cards over Lewis. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, freshman third-baseman Jillian Peterson hit a grounder up the middle that knocked in the winning run.

In game two of the doubleheader, the Cards overcame an early three-run deficit to win 4-3 over Kentucky-Wesleyan. After a slow start, the Cardinals managed to tie the game heading into the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh, junior catcher Jessica Anhel batted in the winning run.

In the last doubleheader of the trip, the Cardinals again used strong pitching coupled with a potent offense to beat the No. 1 ranked team in the country, SIU-Edwardsville, 9-1, en route to another doubleheader sweep.

After falling behind 1-0 early, the Cards came back to score nine unanswered runs. Junior shortstop Nicole Fick started the comeback in the bottom of the first with a double that scored one run. The Cardinals managed only two hits in the inning, though had help from Edwardsville, who walked three and committed an error, all in the first inning.

After the 11-1 Florida trip, the Cards improved their overall record to 12-4.

The Cards will spend the next two weeks on the road, with games in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, then to Livonia and Midland, before returning to Saginaw on March 29 for their first home game of the season against Lake Superior State.