Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The University of Dayton softball team (5-9) run-ruled the North Carolina Central Eagles (1-14) 18-1 in five innings on the final day of the Subway Spartan Classic on the campus of USC Upstate.
“We are excited about our offensive production and getting contributions from our entire team”, Dayton Softball Head Coach Cara LaPlaca said. “Today was a complete team effort.”
Dayton smashed four home runs and doubled twice in its rout of the Eagles. Senior Megan Barrett was 3-for-3 and had a home run and two RBI. Senior Lauren Nacke went 2-for-4 at the plate and had a double, a home run and three RBI. Junior Kathleen Maloof was 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Freshman Natalie Mariano hit her first collegiate home run – a three-run home run – on Sunday. Senior Brandy Brown was 2-for-3 and had an RBI. Freshman Tiffany Ricks was perfect in her pinch hit appearances for a second consecutive day, Ricks was 2-for-2 and had an RBI after batting twice in the fifth inning. Senior Courtney Kutsulis had an RBI-double. Junior transfer Leah Sitter had a two-run blast in the fifth inning.
Senior pitcher Sarah Wedel (2-2) pitched a complete game for UD. Wedel struck out six and did not allow a walk while in the circle. The Eagles scored one earned run off of Wedel.
Dayton scored first in the top of the first inning on a base hit by Brown that brought Maloof home.
Sophomore Kasi Vazquez scored on a wild pitch in the second inning, breaking open a seven-run inning by UD. A two-run error allowed Isaacson and Trotta to score unearned. In the next at-bat, Maloof drove home sophomore Rachel Archer on a base hit to right field, increasing Dayton’s lead to 4-0. Nacke’s three-run home run put Dayton ahead 7-0.
N.C. Central scored on an RBI base hit in the bottom of the third inning. That run proved to be the only run that the Eagles would score in the game.
Dayton continued to rack up the hits, scoring 10 runs in a wild fifth frame. Sitter hit a two-run home run. Mariano hit a three-run homer and Barrett had a two-run home run. Kutsulis doubled and Ricks singled to score runs for the Flyers. In her first at-bat of the fifth inning, Barrett scored on a throwing error.
The Flyers will play their first midweek games of the year on Wednesday, March 7 when they travel to Morehead, Ky. to face Morehead State in a doubleheader.
Notes: Junior transfer Sydney Cicchetti and freshman Tiffany Ricks were named to the Subway Spartan Classic All-Tournament Team. Ricks was 4-for-4 in pinch-hit situations. She hit the game-deciding home runs in Dayton's wins over Appalachian State and USC Upstate. Cicchetti was 1-0 and did not allow an earned run in UD's 7-3 win over Appalachian State. She had five strikeouts and one walk.
