BATON ROUGE, LA (August 20, 2017) – A solo home run from Nerissa Myers in the fourth inning provided the lead and Monica Abbott guided the Scrap Yard Dawgs the rest of the way in 2-0 win over the USSSA Pride in Game 2 of the final series of the 2017 NPF Championship.
As a result, a deciding third game will be played Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park on the LSU campus to determine which team will raise the Cowles Cup. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. (CST).
The Scrap Yard Dawgs (34-19) seek their first-ever league championship while the Pride (43-10) attempt to claim their fourth title overall and first since 2014.
Abbott struck out 14 and hurled a five-hit shutout in improving her season mark to 20-4. She handcuffed the heart of the Pride order, striking out the 3-4-5 hitters of Kirsti Merritt, Shelby Pendley, Chelsea Goodacre all three plate appearances. She’s now recorded 45 strikeouts over 22 innings in the weekend event.
Myers’ solo blast down the right field line ended a scoreless deadlock. Kasey Cooper later tripled and pinch runner Kiki Stokes scored an insurance run on a perfectly placed squeeze bunt by Hannah Flippen.
Back-to-back singles from Megan Wiggins and Kelly Krestchman opened the top of the sixth for the Pride. Abbott bore down and struck out Merritt, Pendley and Goodacre consecutively – a repeat performance of the same situation she was faced with in the fourth inning.
Myers picked up her first homer of the championship series and upped her RBI total to five tying her with USSSA Pride’s Shelby Pendley for the lead in the tournament.
Wiggins and Krestchman both picked two hits to pace the Pride’s offense. They both increased their tournament-leading hits total to six.
Keilani Ricketts yielded both Scrap Yard Dawgs runs in four innings of work. She was relieved one batter into the fifth inning and Hannah Rogers tossed the final two innings.
Quick Facts
Attendence:
Game Time: 1:57
Vaultz® Lock It Up® Player of the Game: Monica Abbott (Scrap Yard Dawgs)
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), an Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball since 2004, provides elite female athletes with an opportunity to pursue a professional career in fastpitch softball beyond their collegiate and amateur success. The NPF affiliate teams consist of the Akron Racers, Beijing Shougang Eagles, Chicago Bandits, Scrap Yard Dawgs, Texas Charge and USSSA Florida Pride for the 2017 season. National Pro Fastpitch players hail from the United States, Australia, Canada and China among which are the most accomplished and talented athletes in the sport of women’s softball