Cardinals Win Three More At Southern Illinois Softball Classic
July 21, 2000 | Softball
March 5, 2000
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The University of Louisville softball team defeated No. 13 Iowa in eight innings on Sunday at the Southern Illinois Softball Classic and remained undefeated on the day with a 5-4 win over Eastern Illinois and a 3-0 win over Loyola Chicago.
In the first game of the day, the Cards and Hawkeyes played to a scoreless tie at the end of seven innings. As the teams entered the eighth inning, the international tiebreaker rule was enforced and Louisville led off the top of the eighth with a runner on second base. Amy Pickering, the runner, advanced to third when Mandy Rockwell reached first on an error. Pickering scored when Candi Padilla reached on a fielder's choice.
Iowa had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when Erin Doud, IU's runner placed on second, advanced to third on Katie Boney's sacrifice bunt, but was tagged out at home in a rundown.
U of L recorded two hits in the game, with Pickering going 1-for-3 with a run scored and Nicole Sparks going 1-for-3. Louisville pitcher Tara McClure (5-1) pitched eight innings in the shutout, allowing six hits and striking out 12.
The Cards went into extra innings again in the next game, a 5-4 win over Eastern Illinois. Louisville built a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning as Val Smith tripled and scored in the first inning and Pickering scored in the third and fifth. Eastern Illinois tied the game 3-3 in the top of the sixth when Adrienne Noll walked, stole second and then scored on a Louisville error. Leah Jones hit a two-run homerun to even the score.
Eastern went ahead 4-3 in the tiebreaker eighth when Noll, who was placed as the runner on second, moved to third on Lindsay Klockenga's sacrifice bunt and scored on Kristin Darnell's fielder's choice.
In the bottom of the eighth, Louisville's Padilla, the runner placed on second, advanced to third on Christina Soto's bunt hit and scored on Nicole Sparks' base hit to tie the game at four. Kim Hilpp scored the winning run after she reached first on a walk, moved to second on Soto's bunt, advanced to third on Sparks' base hit and crossed the plate on a single by Coleen Coughlin.
Offensively, Louisville recorded three doubles and two triples. Coughlin went 4-for-5 with a double and the game winning RBI. Soto was 2-for-2 with a double, Padilla went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a run scored and two RBI, and Sparks was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Louisville pitcher Jessica Rak improved to 6-3.
In the final game of the day, Rak started and threw a one-hitter, her second of the tournament, as the Cards shut out Loyola-Chicago 3-0. Rak pitched seven innings and struck out five while improving her record to 7-3.
The Cards put up a three-spot in the second inning as Pickering, Padilla and Hilpp scored on Lisa McMillan's bases clearing triple. Offensively for U of L, Keola Calderon, Pickering, Hilpp and McMillan recorded hits.
