The Dominican University softball team righted the ship on Saturday afternoon, taking a doubleheader from the Rockford University Regents at the Stars' home field in Forest Park, Ill.
Kaitlyn Tripp (Imperial, Mo.) drove in a pair of runs in the Stars' 4-0 shutout victory game one before providing a walkoff single in the Stars' come-from-behind, 5-4 victory in the nightcap.
The wins push the Stars to 21-7 overall and 9-3 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) as the Stars recovered from back-to-back losses for the first time all season. The Stars will return to action on Sunday, hosting the Edgewood College Eagles for a 12:00 p.m. twinbill at the Stadium at the Ballpark in Rosemont. The Stars will joining the NFCA's fight to StrikeOut Cancer, taking the proceeds from tickets at the gate and donating to The Cure Starts Now Foundation.
Game One: Dominican 4, Rockford 0 Dominican's
Michele Behrens (Frankfort, Ill.) and
Sarah Slouber (Willow Springs, Ill.) combined for a two-hit shutout of the Regents with Behrens working the first three innings before turning the game over to Slouber for the final four. Slouber was near perfect, issuing just two walks while striking out six as the right-hander did not surrender a hit in picking up her sixth win of the season, improving to 6-1 in the circle.
Tripp provided all the offense Dominican's pitchers would need in the bottom of the first, delivering a two-run double to left to score
Marissa Burns (Shorewood, Ill.) and
Sara Hausl (St. Charles, Ill.) with one out. The Stars manufactured a run in the fifth as
Ashley Rea (Lockport, Ill.) lined a one-out triple down the left field line. Hausl then laid down a suicide squeeze to plate Rea as the Stars led 3-0 after five innings.
In the sixth,
Armani Procter (Chicago, Ill.) led off the bottom of the inning with a ground-rule double down the left field line. After a sacrifice bunt,
Ali Woitovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) drove in her tenth run of the season as she doubled to left center to score Procter.
The Stars managed just six hits in the winning effort with Tripp going 1-for-3 with two RBI. Burns was on base three times, going 1-for-1 with a double and getting hit by a pair of pitches.
Game Two: Dominican 5, Rockford 4 Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Hausl led off the inning with an infield single. Burns followed with a bunt single with Hausl advancing all the way to third when the Rockford throw was missed at first base. The Stars then worked a double steal with Hausl scoring and Burns getting into scoring position for Tripp. On cue, Tripp lined a ball through the left side that allowed Burns to come across for the winning run.
The Stars got on the board early as Burns singled to right center to score Hausl in the bottom of the first. However, Rockford responded with three runs in the top of the second of Behrens who made her second start of the day in the circle.
The Regents carried a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the third when Burns lined a two-out double to right center and then scored on a Rockford fielding miscue.
Kaitlin Barajas (Dyer, Ind.) then knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth when she deposited an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left center for her first home run of the season.
Rockford pulled back in front in the top of the seventh when Sarah Rizzo singled through the left side with runners at the corners. Dominican's
Haley Locher (Lisle, Ill.) escaped further damage in the inning when she got Ali Moore on strikes to leave the bases loaded and set the table for Tripp's walkoff single.
Locher picked up the win, tossing five innings in relief and surrendering just one run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. The junior is now 6-5 on the season with a 3.07 earned run average.
The Stars, led by Burns, tallied 13 hits in game two. Burns was 3-for-4, upping her NACC-leading batting average to .529. Hausl, Tripp, Procter and Barajas had two hits apiece while Woitovich was 1-for-3 with a double.
