ROSEMONT, Ill. – June 17, 2014 – The Pride won game three tonight on a ninth inning pass ball that allowed Caitlin Lowe to cross home plate and score the winning run as the Pride went on to beat the Bandits for the second game in a row, 8-4, taking a 2-1 series lead.
The Bandits blew a three run lead in the sixth, allowing the Pride to score three straight runs to tie the game at four and force extra innings for the first time at the Ballpark at Rosemont.
Reigning NPF Rookie of the Year, Andi Williamson took to the circle for the Bandits for the first time this season going head to head with the Pride’s Danielle Lawrie.
The Pride struck first tonight, off a GiOnna DiSalvatore RBI single in the third. Trailing by one, the Bandits scored four run in the bottom of the third to take the lead. The Bandits tied the game after Brittany Cervantes was hit by a Lawrie pitch with the bases loaded and took the lead off a Kristen Butler hit a sac fly to center plating Megan Wiggins. Chicago added two more runs off an Amber Patton RBI bunt and Alisa Goler RBI single.
A Bandits error in the fourth allowed Natasha Watley to reach first and Jessica Schults to cross home plate, cutting the lead to two.
Olivia Galati came into the game in the fourth to replace Lawrie and was eventually awarded the win, giving up just three hits, while striking out three batters in 5.2 innings pitched.
The Pride tied the game in the sixth off Brigette Del Ponte’s RBI single making it 4-3, while Watley followed up with an RBI single to tie it at four.
Estela Piñon replaced Williamson after the Pride tied things up. Piñon gave up four runs in the ninth, suffering the loss, before Michelle Gascoigne came on in relief in the ninth as the Pride completed the victory.
GAME NOTES
* Monday night was the largest crowd at the Ballpark at Rosemont this season with 1,509 fans in attendance.
* Emily Allard did not play in the game after getting hit by a pitch in Sunday’s game.
* The Bandits committed three errors in the game while the Pride had zero.
* Danielle Zymkowitz and Tammy Williams each had two hits in the game.
* Williamson pitched 5.2 innings, giving up eight hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out two while Lawrie pitched three innings giving up four runs on four hits while striking out two.
* Jordan Taylor came in to get the final out for the Pride.
The USSSA Florida Pride is a professional franchise in the National Pro Fastpitch League that is owned and operated by USSSA. The amateur organization of USSSA has multi-sport coverage and encompasses teams and players from the United States and abroad!
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball and has been since 2002.