Post by Homer Hawks Site Administrator on May 7, 2011 8:25:35 GMT -5
Saints, Malacina Blank RMU but then Drop 13-inning Game to SXU
Sat, May 7, 2011 at 12:53 AM - [Softball]
Senior pitcher Kim Malacina closed out her career with a shutout win and a heartbreaking 13-inning lossCHICAGO - Senior pitcher Kim Malacina (Lockport H.S./Homer Glen, IL) tossed a five-hit shutout to defeat Robert Morris University, 4-0, early Friday afternoon and then pitched nearly a full 13 innings before she and the Fighting Saints dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Saint Xavier University in an elimination game at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship Tournament.
Malacina's marathon performance nearly got the Saints - the tourney's No. 4 seed - into the event's championship round on Saturday but USF was unable to push across the winning run against the top-seeded Cougars in Friday's final game.
Saint Xavier (34-15) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the fourth inning without the benefit of a base hit, utilizing a pair of walks, a sacrifice bunt and an infield ground out to go ahead 1-0.
USF (24-20) quickly knotted the score at 1-1 in the fifth when senior shortstop Lauren Panek (Lemont H.S./Lemont, IL) led off with a single and pinch runner Lindsey Rohan (Benet Academy/Naperville, IL) moved around to score thanks to a sacrifice bunt, a double by senior right fielder Kaylee Shell (Wilmington H.S./Wilmington, IL) and a wild pitch.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the 13th inning but USF did miss out on some scoring opportunities. The Saints left a pair of runners on base in each of the 10th and 12th innings and went down in order in order only three times in 13 innings on the game.
Malacina gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning and was not touched for another hit until there were two outs in the eighth inning. She finished the game allowing just the two runs on five hits in 12.2 innings with five strikeouts and three walks. The Saints compiled 11 hits in the game, with a team-best three from Shell and two each from senior catcher C.J. Rupsis (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL), junior outfielder Megan O'Brien (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) and Panek.
Malacina was just as brilliant in USF's first game of the day as she helped USF avenge its Thursday tourney-opening loss to Robert Morris by firing a five-hit shutout. She walked just one hitter and struck out a pair. On the day, Malacina worked 19.2 innings, surrendered just 10 hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts and four walks.
USF got most of its first game offense from the bats of Rupsis and freshman left fielder Natalie Ward (Marian Catholic H.S./Crete, IL). Rupsis drove Ward home with a single and a double for the first two runs and Ward drove home the final two tallies with a two-run homer, her second of the season. Ward was 3-for-3 in the game with a single, double and homer, three runs scored and two RBI. Rupsis finished 2-for-3 with the two RBI.
Sat, May 7, 2011 at 12:53 AM - [Softball]
Senior pitcher Kim Malacina closed out her career with a shutout win and a heartbreaking 13-inning lossCHICAGO - Senior pitcher Kim Malacina (Lockport H.S./Homer Glen, IL) tossed a five-hit shutout to defeat Robert Morris University, 4-0, early Friday afternoon and then pitched nearly a full 13 innings before she and the Fighting Saints dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Saint Xavier University in an elimination game at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship Tournament.
Malacina's marathon performance nearly got the Saints - the tourney's No. 4 seed - into the event's championship round on Saturday but USF was unable to push across the winning run against the top-seeded Cougars in Friday's final game.
Saint Xavier (34-15) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the fourth inning without the benefit of a base hit, utilizing a pair of walks, a sacrifice bunt and an infield ground out to go ahead 1-0.
USF (24-20) quickly knotted the score at 1-1 in the fifth when senior shortstop Lauren Panek (Lemont H.S./Lemont, IL) led off with a single and pinch runner Lindsey Rohan (Benet Academy/Naperville, IL) moved around to score thanks to a sacrifice bunt, a double by senior right fielder Kaylee Shell (Wilmington H.S./Wilmington, IL) and a wild pitch.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the 13th inning but USF did miss out on some scoring opportunities. The Saints left a pair of runners on base in each of the 10th and 12th innings and went down in order in order only three times in 13 innings on the game.
Malacina gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning and was not touched for another hit until there were two outs in the eighth inning. She finished the game allowing just the two runs on five hits in 12.2 innings with five strikeouts and three walks. The Saints compiled 11 hits in the game, with a team-best three from Shell and two each from senior catcher C.J. Rupsis (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL), junior outfielder Megan O'Brien (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) and Panek.
Malacina was just as brilliant in USF's first game of the day as she helped USF avenge its Thursday tourney-opening loss to Robert Morris by firing a five-hit shutout. She walked just one hitter and struck out a pair. On the day, Malacina worked 19.2 innings, surrendered just 10 hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts and four walks.
USF got most of its first game offense from the bats of Rupsis and freshman left fielder Natalie Ward (Marian Catholic H.S./Crete, IL). Rupsis drove Ward home with a single and a double for the first two runs and Ward drove home the final two tallies with a two-run homer, her second of the season. Ward was 3-for-3 in the game with a single, double and homer, three runs scored and two RBI. Rupsis finished 2-for-3 with the two RBI.