With senior Brie Galicinao on the mound, the Tigers don't need much help to win. But the Monmouth softball team made the cardinal sin in softball, giving a strong hitting team extra outs in an inning. In yesterday's doubleheader, Monmouth committed four errors, including an error in the first inning of both games. With both strong hitting and dominant pitching, the Tigers won, 8-0 and 6-1.
Once again, Galicinao was the star for the Tigers (25-15, 9-1 Ivy). The left-handed ace pitcher and power hitter started the first game against Monmouth, and like always, she left the opposing batters baffled.
But yesterday's game did not start with Galicinao helping her team on the mound, it began with her scoring the first run of the game. The always aggressive lead-off hitter, Galicinao attacked a pitch that was a little out of the strike zone but put the ball in play by hitting a hard groundball at the second baseman. Just her luck, the second baseman made an error on the ball and Galicinao now stood safely on first.
The first inning has been very important for the Tigers all season. With Galicinao leading off and freshman utility player Kristin Lueke then sophomore first baseman Kristen Del Calvo following right behind, the Tigers have a potent first inning offense.
Galicinao then moved to second on a past ball. Lueke singled, moving Galicinao to third. Playing aggressive softball, Lueke went to second as Monmouth tried to throw out Galicinao at third. With two runners in scoring position, the Tigers' best hitter, Del Calvo, strolled to the plate.
Batting .380, Del Calvo leads the team in batting average and in RBIs with 35 already on the season. She came up huge for her team once again. Del Calvo hit a hard line drive into left field, scoring both Galicinao and Lueke.
Taking advantage of Monmouth's weak defense, Del Calvo moved all the way to third.
With the Tigers already leading 2-0, senior shortstop Kim Veenstra singled into left field, scoring Del Calvo from third. Monmouth finally stopped the Tigers in the first inning, but not before the Tigers took a commanding 3-0 lead.
While Galicinao is always a tough pitcher, she is at her best with a lead, and three runs are always enough for her to finish off a team. Galicinao mowed down Monmouth and sent the Tigers back to the plate, without losing a bit of their momentum.
In the second inning, the Tigers scored a run just using simple fundamentals. Freshman outfielder Melissa Finley first walked, then junior second baseman Mackenzie Forsythe bunted for a single, sending Finley to second. Sophomore pitcher Wendy Bingham then sacrifice bunted, advancing the runners to second and third. With runners again in scoring position, Galicinao slapped a single up the middle, scoring the runner from third, and making the score 4-0. The Tigers then added another two runs in the top of the third, making the score 6-0.
The Tiger offense threatened again in the fifth, but it did not strike until the top of the sixth. Del Calvo flashed the power once again. With Lueke already on base, Del Calvo ended the game with the mercy rule, by homering over the right field fence.
While Galicinao was a spark plug for the Tiger offense, it was her pitching which dominated the game. In six innings on the mound, Galicinao allowed one hit, zero walks and struck out eleven. This was also her eighth shutout of the season.
The second game of the double header began in similar fashion to the first.
After a walk and a Monmouth error, Galicinao and Lueke were standing on first and second. Veenstra then singled up the middle, but the ball did not go deep enough to score Galicinao from second. With the bases loaded, Freshmann third baseman Becky Nemec hit a sacrifice fly, scoring both Galicinao and Lueke, and giving the Tigers another big first inning lead.
Monmouth then countered with a run in the bottom of the first, but that was the last run they would score on the day.
The Tigers used the second game as an opportunity to get several pitchers a few innings of work. Senior Sarah Jane White started the game and pitched the first three innings. White allowed two hits, a run and struck out two. The Tigers' number two pitcher, Wendy Bingham, then pitched the fourth through the sixth, with Fnley closing.
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