SCF Softball Sweeps Oakland

The SCF softball team (16-8) claimed another doubleheader as they swept Oakland CC (0-2) 8-0 and 13-5 via mercy rule. With the sweep, the Manatees are now 15-1 against the Raiders.

"I think anytime you win ball games, it's a good thing," said head coach Mandy Schuerman. "We are excited to have two quality wins and look forward to building on it."

Game One:
For game one, Schuerman went with her ace in freshman Ally Hulme, while Oakland head coach Jamie Corona went with sophomore Lanie Ellinger.

After Hulme struck out the side at the top of the first, the Manatees would get on the board first starting with back-to-back singles by freshmen Lauren Lightbody and Lilly Salazar. After freshman Maddie Koczersut laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Lightbody and Salazar in scoring position for sophomore Madi LoCastro. On a 2-1 count, the Lakewood Ranch product sent a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Lightbody and Salazar for a 2-0 SCF lead.

Play stopped for 10 minutes due to freshman Lindsey Michol getting injured.

Personal Note: I did say a prayer for her when she left the field as a way of showing respect to the fans that came to support their team. No one likes to see anyone get hurt, especially for their first game of the season.

Resuming back to the game, the bats went quiet on both ends of the field with Hulme backed up on the field by the defense and getting a couple more strikeouts until the bottom of the fifth when the Manatees decided to finish where they left off. After Koczersut and LoCastro drew back-to-back walks, freshman Lauren Hutcherson would start the onslaught with an RBI single to send Koczersut home. Sophomore Ashlee Zientek would then send LoCastro home after reaching on fielding error before Hutcherson scored on the same error for a 5-0 SCF lead. This signaled the end for Ellinger as Corona would send freshman Amber Shayler to the mound.

After sophomore Madelyn Graham hit a single to right, freshman Kristin Kopp would draw a walk to load the bases for classmate Madi Schaefer, who would bring Zientek home with a bases-loaded walk before classmate Emily Hughes came in to pinch run. Lightbody would follow with a bases-loaded walk of her own to bring in Graham for a 7-0 SCF lead. After Corona sent freshman Olivia Katich to the mound, Salazar reached on a fielder's choice before Kopp was out at home. Freshman Kelsi Jeffries would be the hero of the game as she drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Hughes to seal the deal. It was Jeffries' first collegiate RBI.

Hulme would get her sixth win of the season after throwing a two-hit five inning shutout walking one batter and striking out five. Hulme is now 6-3 on the year.

"I attacked the zone early and I had a really good defense behind to get the win," said Hulme on the shutout.

Ellinger would be hit with the loss after giving up five runs on six hits with four walks and one strikeout in four innings.

Lightbody and Hutcherson would each get two hits, an RBI, a run and a walk. Lightbody added a stolen base to her mix.

LoCastro would go 1-for-1 with two RBI and two walks. LoCastro was the only Manatee with a multi RBI game.

Salazar and Graham had the Manatees' final two hits and added a run each. Graham also drew a walk.

Sophomores Olivia Marasco and Maria McCollom had the Raiders lone two hits.

Game Two:
For game two, Schuerman sent LoCastro to the mound to cover some ground while Corona sent Katich to counter.

After a scoreless, the Raiders would get on the board first after Katich hit a solo shot to left for her first collegiate home run of the year, but the Manatees would answer back with a strong bat off of Hughes to bring in LoCastro and Jefferies, who drew walks for a 3-1 SCF lead. It was Hughes' third home run of the season.

At the top of the Raiders would then cut the Manatees lead to one after an RBI single by Ellinger. After being unable to score in the bottom of the third, the Manatees would answer back with vengeance in the bottom of the fourth. Beginning with leadoff walk by Jeffries and a double by Hughes, Zientek would show her sign of power as the Winter Springs native sent a double to left to bring in Jeffries for a 4-2 SCF lead.

After a two-RBI double by Graham to bring in Hughes and Zientek before sophomore Makayla Benavidez, Corona would pull Katich and send Shayler to the mound. After a bunt single by Lightbody before Salazar grounded out to move Lightbody and hold Benavidez at third. This gave Hutcherson to extend the Manatees' lead further with a two-RBI single to send Benavidez and Lightbody home for a 8-2 SCF lead.

After Kopp popped out, Koczersut, who came in to pinch hit, would have power come her way on deuces wild as the local product of Bradenton shot a home run to left center to give the Manatees a 10-2 lead and try to apply the mercy rule. This was Koczersut's fourth home run of the season.

Kopp would then make her firshe Raiders would answer back at the top of the fifth to buy some time and stop the mercy rule from happening as Ellinger sent a three-run shot to left to make it 10-5 SCF, but the Manatees would not stand for that and decided to end the game needing only three runs. After the first two batters grounded out, Benavidez would reach first after being hit by a pitch. After Lightbody drew a walk and Salazar singled to load the bases, Hutcherson would reach on an error and send Benavidez and Lightbody home for a 12-5 SCF lead leaving Kopp to be the hero of the second game. On a 3-1 count, Kopp would send a single to right and bring in Hutcherson to seal the deal.

LoCastro would earn a no-decision after giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts in three innings, while going 1-for-1 with a run scored and walk. LoCastro would finish the series at the plate 2-for-2 with two RBI, two runs scored and three walks.

Kopp would get her first collegiate win on the mound after throwing two innings, giving up three runs on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts and going 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI. Kopp finished 1-for-4 with an RBI in the series.

Katich would be hit with the loss after giving up seven runs on nine hits with three walks in three innings. Katich was also 2-for-2 with a home run.

Hughes was the leader offensively as she went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. Hughes finished 2-for-4 on the series.

Aside from Salazar, Hutcherson, and Zientek each had two hits. Salazar (2-for-4) added a run, while Hutcherson (2-for-4) added two RBI, a run and a stolen base and Zientek (2-for-3) added an RBI and a run. Salazar finished the series 3-for-8 with two runs, while Hutcherson finished 4-for-6 with three RBI, two runs and two stolen bases and Zientek finished 2-for-6 with two RBI and two runs.

"It feels really good," said Hutcherson on her game. "I don't know what I was eating or doing, but it's working and I'm hitting the ball really nice right now and I hope that my teammates are hitting the ball too. I'm looking forward to more wins this season."

Koczersut and Graham each had one hit and two RBI, while Lightbody was 1-for-3 with two runs. Koczersut finished 1-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Graham finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run and Lightbody finished 3-for-6 with one RBI and three runs.

"I think really what our goal was to have a good offensive approach, but also not really have missed opportunities," said Schuerman on the team's offense. "We had too many baserunners stranded in game one, so we were working on buttoning up a little bit going towards game two. I think we can still get better at it."

"As far as pitching and defense, we just got to pound the zone and try not to make any defensive mistakes to get the shutout in game one and to really build off that and to get some more shutouts."

Ellinger was the main offensive player for the Raiders as she finished 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.

Freshman Ashley Lagodzinski joined Katich and Ellinger with a multi-hit game as she finished 2-for-2 with a run.

"It felt really good to get the sweep," said Hutcherson. "Our team hit the ball really and we're now focusing on hitting the ball hard on the ground and we really got our goal with two great wins and our team is really coming together and making sure we have a plan up to bat and it really showed today that we are getting ready to get back on track for Kalamazoo Valley."

Notes:
With the two wins, Schuerman now has 194 wins in her career and needs six more to reach 200 wins as head coach for the Manatees.

Up Next:
The Manatees are halfway done with their eight-game homestead as they welcome Kalamazoo Valley (0-4) to the SCF Softball Complex Monday afternoon, March 2 at 4 and 6 pm. The Cougars fell to Pasco-Hernando State 12-4 and 9-7.