University of Louisville
Oregon State (Worth Invitational)
Softball Blanks Oregon State 2-0
March 01, 2008 | Softball
March 1, 2008
FULLERTON, Calif. - The University of Louisville softball team defeated Oregon State 2-0 Saturday evening on the second day of the Fullerton Worth Invitational. The Cardinals improve to 7-7 on the season. The win also marks the 300th in Louisville softball history which now has a program record of 300-188 since starting in 2000.
The teams played through two scoreless innings before Louisville got on the scoreboard in the third. Melissa Roth drew a one-out walk, took second on Sarah Totten's single and crossed the plate on Chelsea Bemis' RBI hit.
The Cards added another run in the top of the sixth when Kristen Wadwell registered a two-out double and scored on Kaylyn Castillo's single to make it a 1-0 game.
OSU had runners in scoring position twice in the game. In the third inning, McKenna Lowe singled and was sacrificed to second by Dani Chisolm and to third by Paige Lowe, but Wadwell retired the next batter for the third out. In the sixth inning, Chisolm reached on a bunt single, stole second and took third on McKenna Lowe's sacrifice hit, but the Cardinal defense stood strong to preserve the shutout.
Wadwell (3-4) went the distance to get the shutout win, scattering three hits and striking out one. Louisville had seven hits in the game and was paced offensively by Totten's 3 for 4 performance at the plate.
Kelly Dyer (4-8) was tagged with the loss, after giving up two earned runs on seven hits and striking out two in seven innings. The Beavers fall to 9-11 on the season.
"It's been a difficult weekend trying to get on track offensively," said U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall. "We had been hitting the ball, but not scoring runs. Today, we finally put things together, and I was very pleased with our offense. I was also pleased with the performance of our pitchers today. Kristen pitched well against Oregon State and UC-Davis and Kassie Stanfill and Mandi Rodriguez also performed well in our win over UC-Davis. I think our team gained a great deal of confidence today."
Pearsall, a 1983 graduate of Oregon State, faced her alma mater for the third time in a year. The teams first met in the 2007 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional, where the Cardinals handed the Beavers an 8-0 loss - the worst NCAA loss in OSU history. Two days later, Oregon State eliminated Louisville from the regional by beating them 11-4.
U of L will face No. 5/7 Florida at noon (Eastern) Sunday.
