ROSEMONT, Ill. - Junior
Alexandria Smith tossed a one-hitter and the University of Illinois Springfield softball offense sparked a 7-0 win against Findlay on Sunday afternoon to close out the Lewis Dome Invitational.
Smith tossed a complete-game one-hitter and gave up three walks while fanning six to move to 3-1 on the season. The Stars capitalized on two Oilers' errors and recorded six hits to move to 5-3 on the year.
UIS pushed across a run in the first when
Ashli King's hit to short stop allowed
Lauren Hollinshead to score from third. Hollinshead reached on a hit-by-pitch before stealing second and advancing on a fielder's choice out. With two on and two out, Findlay got the last batter to pop up to end the threat.
It was short lived though as UIS plated three runs in the second.
Molly Manietta reached on an error and was replaced by
Trisha Faulkner.
Amanda Gosbeth earned a walk to put two on. The next batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases before
Tess Hupe's single pushed the first run across. An error by the Oilers allowed two other runs to score to give the Stars a 4-0 win.
In the third,
Jordyn Amos scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a walk and moving over on a double from
Molly Manietta. UIS tacked on two more runs in the fifth on a two-RBI single from Gosbeth.
The Oilers only had three runners move past second base and every time the UIS defense shut down the threat. Nicole Motuza started the game and threw 2.1 innings with two earned runs, two hits and three walks. Bonnie Zappitelli came in as relief and fanned 10 batters, while giving up five hits, two walks and two runs.
Illinois Springfield takes to the field again next weekend at the Teri-Mathis Memorial Tournament in Joplin, Mo. The games begin on Saturday against Pittsburgh State.