University of Connecticut Athletics
Softball Advances At Florida State Invitational
3/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Kent State 5, UConn 8 [], []
UConn 8, Bradley 6 [], []
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 11, 2006) - The University of Connecticut softball team picked up two wins at the Florida State Invitational on Saturday, defeating Kent State, 8-5, and Bradley, 8-6, to advance to the final day of competition in the Gold Bracket at the Florida State Invitational. The Huskies are now 6-6 overall.
After concluding action in Pool A with the 8-5 victory over Kent State in the morning, the Huskies were one of three teams in the pool with a 2-1 record for the tournament.
Against Kent State, the Huskies got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Micah Truax (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) hit a home run as the first batter of the half-inning, and the Huskies did not look back. They added two more runs on a sacrifice fly and a single. Four more runs were scored by the Huskies in the bottom of the second on a grand slam by junior Jessica Quan (Stockton, Calif.) A single by freshman Danielle Del Ponte (Tewskbury, Mass.), driving in Truax, wrapped up the scoring for UConn in the bottom of the fourth.
Kent State scored five runs in the top of the fifth, but the Huskies were able to hold them off for the victory. Senior Michelle Caouette (Wyantskill, N.Y.) picked up the win for UConn and junior Krista Michalczyk (Salem, N.H.) had the save. In between those efforts, sophomore Ashley Thody (Middletown, Conn.) was on the mound for UConn, giving up just one hit in 1.2 innings of work.
UConn advanced to play Bradley in the first game of the Gold Bracket at 3:30 p.m.
The Huskies got on the board first, scoring one run in the top of the first on a single by sophomore Allie Gendron (Amherst, Mass.) to take the early lead. However, Bradley scored five runs in the bottom of the inning to take away the UConn advantage. The Huskies would score two more in the second on a double by junior Kristina Tolles (Southington, Conn.) and then four in the fifth. Freshman Jillian Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.) tripled to drive in two runs in the fifth and UConn's final two runs of the inning came on a double by freshman Sarah Neuschwander (Chugiak, Alaska) and a single by Truax. Connecticut closed out the scoring with one run in the top of the seventh.
Michalczyk picked up the win in the second game for the Huskies. She gave up nine hits and struck out five in the victory.
The Huskies advance to face Indiana in the Gold Bracket semifinal on Sunday, March 12. The game will be played at 9:30 a.m.
