BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Junior pitcher Meghan Doonan struck out a season-high 11
batters as Florida Atlantic went to 2-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Softball
Championship with a 5-1 win over Campbell on Thursday evening at FAU Softball
Stadium.
Doonan (8-1) allowed just one run on three hits and one walk. The right-hander
had earlier recorded a save in FAU’s 1-0 win over East Tennessee State in the
first round.
Florida Atlantic utilized a Camel error to its advantage in the first inning,
scoring two unearned runs as a result. Senior Jessica Sachs opened the game
with a walk and moved up two spots on a misplay at second base off the bat of
junior Shauna Corso.
Sachs then scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Danielle Arriaga. Back-to-back
wild pitches allowed Corso to advance home from first base to give Florida Atlantic
a 2-0 edge. Sachs crossed home with the Owls’ third run, that tally coming in
the third.
After her single to open the inning and a Jenna Lopez sacrifice bunt, Corso
singled to center to drive in the run. Campbell finally got to Doonan in the
fifth, as Stephenie Pappas recorded the first hit of the game for the Camels.
After stealing second, Pappas came home on an Erica Willis single to center.
Florida Atlantic put single digits on the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh
innings. Freshman Amy Bukovich started the sixth with a double and moved to
third on a sacrifice by sophomore Charlotte Baird. A suicide squeeze by Sachs
plated Bukovich.
In the seventh, freshman Kala Guy, a First Team All-Conference selection, delivered
an RBI single to score pinch runner Marlene Lopez with the game’s final run.
Sachs totaled two hits, two runs and an RBI in the game and Corso scored once
and drove in one. Kelly Weaver (14-9) took the loss for Campbell, giving up
the first three runs in 2 1/3 innings while striking out two and walking two.
Florida Atlantic (31-22) moves on in the winners’ bracket, awaiting an opponent
and time to be announced pending the outcome of Thursday’s final game between
Mercer and Stetson.