Saturday, May 21, 2011

The JU softball team used a four-run second inning to secure a 8-0 victory (6) against Bethune-Cookman and stay alive in the Gainesville Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Senior Katie Kelly and junior Kayla Ouellet each drove in two runs for the Dolphins (44-15), who will play UCLA (34-18) again tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.com.

“We did what we needed to do against the win,” said JU head coach Amanda Lehotak. “They are good team so we needed to jump on them early and that is what our kids did. Overall, I’m happy we got the win, but we have another tough test against UCLA.”

Junior Sarah Sigrest (27-6) earned the win for the Dolphins after allowing just two Lady Wildcats (33-26) hits in five scoreless innings. Sophomore Olivia Kline pitched a scoreless frame, while sophomore Sarah Simon and junior Amanda Schmidt added extra base hits.

In the bottom of the second inning, Kline reached on an error and moved to second on a ground out. Freshman Jacey Warner was hit by a pitch, while Kelly followed with a single to left field to plate Kline. Warner was tagged out in the next at-bat after falling on the way to home, but junior Brittany Eppley singled to score Kelly and make it a 2-0 lead. Ouellet rounded out the inning with a single to score freshman Meagan Balding and Eppley for a 4-0 advantage.