BOCA RATON, Fla.- Senior Caralisa Connell tossed a one-hit shutout as the No. 18/19 University of Louisville softball team defeated St. John’s 7-0 in the Florida Atlantic University Kick-Off Classic Sunday.
“I thought we did a great job of coming out and taking care of business right away today,” said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. “Caralisa did a great job on the mound. Offensively, we did a good job of not swinging at balls that were out of the strike zone and we did what we needed to do.”
The Cards (3-2) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior Brittany Duncan and senior Katie Keller drew back-to-back two-out walks. Senior Maggie Ruckenbrod’s hit loaded the bases for freshman Maryssa Becker’s two-run single to right field.
Louisville added three runs in the bottom of the second when freshman Morgan Meyer led off with an infield single, took second on a passed ball and came around to score on senior Hannah Kiyohara’s double. Walks to Kelsi Jones and Duncan loaded the bases. An error allowed Keller to reach and sent Kiyohara home. Ruckenbrod followed with an RBI single to make the score 5-0.
The Cardinals tacked on another run in the fifth when freshmen Kristina Dillard and Rachel Houck registered back-to-back doubles to open the home half of the inning.
The sixth inning brought another run when senior Taner Fowler walked, took second on freshman Tiara Sanabria’s groundout and came home on a single by Dillard for the 7-0 final.
Senior Caralisa Connell (2-1) got the complete game shutout win, allowing only one hit and striking out five. Dillard went 2 for 2 with a run and an RBI while Ruckenbrod was 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead the Cards at the plate.
Tori Free (0-2) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on four hits and striking out one in 1.0 innings. Monique Landini had the Red Storm’s lone hit. St. John’s drops to 2-3 on the season.
