Princeton University Athletics
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Four-Run Second Inning Lifts Louisville over Princeton Softball, 6-1
March 11, 2007 | Softball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Louisville defeated the Princeton softball team for the second time in the Maryland Invitational Sunday, using a four-run second inning on the way to a 6-1 win in the tournament final.
Princeton fell to 5-4 on the season and finished the Maryland tournament 3-2. Louisville finished the tournament with a 5-0 record to improve to 11-8 on the season.
Princeton starter Kristen Schaus (2-3) retired the Cardinals in order in the first inning before hitting the first batter of the second inning, Louisville's Melissa Roth. Two batters later, Brooke McCrain drove the ball to leftfield, where it fell in front of a diving Kelsey Quist and bounced all the way to the fence. Roth scored easily and McCrain held up at third.
The next batter, Rebecca Saksefski, dropped a shallow single into left-center, scoring McCrain, and Saksefski scored when Sarah Totten blasted a home run to put Louisville ahead 4-0.
That ended the day for Schaus, who allowed three hits without a walk and earned all four runs, striking out two.
Meanwhile, Louisville pitcher Catherine Bishop (6-6) had Princeton batters baffled. She struck out six in a row from the first to third innings until she lost her bid for perfection in the fifth.
Rookie Jamie Lettire came over from first base to relieve Schaus for the third inning and got the Cardinals in order, but ran into trouble in the fourth.
Louisville's Brittany York and McCrain started the inning with back-to-back doubles before Lettire settled back in, and the Cardinals had a 5-0 lead.
Kelsey Quist led off the fifth with a blast to rightfield for Princeton's first hit, breaking up the shutout. Of Princeton's six home runs this year, five have been hit by freshmen, with Quist hitting two of those.
Lettire finished in the circle after two innings, allowing two hits and an earned run. Calli Jo Varner entered for the fifth and sixth innings, allowing Louisville's last run on a walk and a two-out double from Totten for the Cardinals' sixth run in the final inning, one of two hits Varner allowed.
Bishop, the Louisville starter, left after five, allowing just the Quist home run while walking one and fanning eight. Kassie Stanfill, the Cardinal pitcher who shut out Princeton earlier in the tournament, threw the last two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one.
Quist, Lettire and Collette Abbott made the weekend's all-tournament team.
The Tigers will have four days away from competition before beginning their spring break trip at the University of South Florida's Speedline Invitational next weekend.