Best-ever Florida trip ends with split
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Softball
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Fredonia State split its final two games Thursday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic and will head home with its best-ever Florida record.
The Blue Devils (8-3-1) closed their trip with a 2-1 victory over Roger Williams after falling to Bowdoin 10-0 earlier Thursday. The eight wins are two more than the team's previous best Cusic effort, accomplished three times, most recently in 2007.
Against Roger Williams, freshman left-hander Michelle Lattner (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) pitched a complete-game three-hitter and drove in the game-winning run. She pitched out of three jams during the game and improved to 2-0 this spring.
The Blue Devils used power and speed to score their two runs. The power came in the form of a homer by junior Andrea Devon (Elmira/Notre Dame) leading off the fourth inning. The speed was that of junior Rebecca Zimmerman (Jamestown). After singling to lead off the first, Zimmerman went from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Brittany Lis (Lancaster). Lattner followed with a hard grounder to first and Zimmerman beat the throw home for her team's second run. The loss dropped Roger Williams to 4-4.
In the 9 a.m. game Thursday, Bowdoin came out running and never stopped. The first four pitches of the game thrown by Fredonia State freshman right-hander Ashley LaPorta (Buffalo/Mount St. Mary) resulted in a two infield singles, a sacrifice bunt, and a two-run single. Meanwhile, Bowdoin's Kara Nilson held the Blue Devils to three hits over five innings, when the game was ended by the mercy rule. The closest Nilson came to allowing a run was a triple by Lattner leading off the fourth inning. She was stranded there. Bowdoin improved to 11-5 win the victory.
The Blue Devils are idle until March 27 when they open their home and SUNYAC schedules with a doubleheader vs. Morrisville State. First game is 3 p.m.