St. Francis (IL) News
Mon, Mar. 7, 2011 - [Softball]
Junior Brittany Bochenek had a pair of hits and three RBI in the 10 inning loss to Urbana
Junior Brittany Bochenek had a pair of hits and three RBI in the 10 inning loss to Urbana

CLERMONT, Fla. -- One was quick and one was long but neither ended up good for University of St. Francis Monday as the Fighting Saints' softball team dropped a pair of decisions to Cedarville University (OH) and Urbana University (OH) on its second day of its spring break trip to Florida.

Cedarville(2-1) scored six times in the bottom of the first inning to coast to a 10-0 five-inning win that consumed only 58 minutes in Monday morning's opener. Freshman hurler Scarlett Pucci (Willows Academy/Park Ridge, IL) was tagged with the loss, allowing those half-dozen first-inning runs in one-third of an inning pitched. The Saints collected just a pair of singles in the game from freshman left fielder Natalie Ward (Marian Catholic H.S./Crete, IL) and senior right fielder Kaylee Shell (Wilmington H.S./Wilmington, IL).

The Saints (2-2) battled Urbana (2-4) 10 innings before finally dropping a 10-8 decision that took just shy of three hours to complete.

USF jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning on a bases-loaded triple off the bat of junior first sacker Brittany Bochenek (Lockport H.S./Lockport, IL). The Saints had already scored the game's first run in the opening inning when freshman center fielder Lexi Southall (Wilmington H.S./Wilmington, IL) doubled and scored on a base hit by Ward.

Starting pitcher Jordan Halata (Lockport H.S./Homer Glen, IL) blanked the Blue Knights through four innings before Urbana put together a four-run rally to tie the game in the top of the fifth.

The score remained tied through seven innings, although the Saints did miss an opportunity to win in the bottom of the seventh when they left the bases loaded.

Each team scored twice in the eighth frame, with USF coming back to knot the score at 6-6 on a two-out RBI single by Shell and a two-out bases-loaded walk coaxed by Southall.

Urbana and USF each tallied once in the ninth inning, with junior third baseman Jenny Festin (Lockport H.S./Lockport, IL) sending the contest to the 10th inning with a clutch, two-out RBI single. The Saints again missed a chance to win by leaving the bases loaded for the second straight inning.
Urbana picked up three runs in the top of the 10th, the last two unearned, to take a 10-7 advantage.
The Saints got one back on a two-out double by Southall but couldn't keep the rally going.
 

Freshman Jessica Kuester (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S./Homewood, IL) made her collegiate pitching debut in relief of Halata and was tagged with the loss. Southall had three hits and an RBI and Bochenek finished with a pair of hits and three runs driven in.

The Saints play two more games on Tuesday, meeting Bellevue University (NE) at 8:30 a.m. and facing Cedarville in a rematch at 10:30 a.m. Both games can be heard via a webcast on http://www.gofightingsaints.com.