Feb. 11, 2011

Mississippi State Box Score

Washington State Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The UIC softball team started the 2011 season off with a resounding fifth-inning comeback victory over Mississippi State on Friday morning at the Sportco Kickoff Classic at UNLV.

The Flames closed out the day with an 8-0 defeat at the hands of 10th-ranked Washington and return to action tomorrow evening against the host Rebels at 5:45 p.m. followed by a nightcap against California Riverside at 8:00 p.m. CST. Both contests will be available on GameTracker.

Game One: UIC 5, Mississippi State 4
Freshman Natalie Hernandez would set the tone of the first game of the year by making an impressive grab right off the bat in the first inning, catching the Bulldog's lead-off batter, Brittany Bell, stealing at second.

Fellow newcomer Jenna Marsalli would open up UIC's offensive end of things as the Flames' first hit of the season would see Marsalli rip a double into right field with an out in the second. Pinch runner Kara Komp would round home off a deep RBI single from Coryn Schmit to put UIC ahead, 1-0.

The Bulldogs would respond in the top of the third with back-to-back home runs from infielders Heidi Shape and Ali Bainbridge, with Shape's bomb driving in a trio of runs for a 4-1 MSU lead.

With nothing transpiring in the fourth inning for either side, the Flames broke out in a big way in the fifth. Kelsey Sturgeon would lead things off with a walk and pinch runner Melissa Preish would move over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Hernandez.

With two outs, Melinda Macias would single straight up the middle for the first hit of the season for the lead off hitter to bring Preish home to cut Mississippi State's lead to two. Carly DeMarco would follow suit with a well-placed bunt towards the pitchers circle to move everyone over, and a single from Shannon Kehr along the third base line would chase starting pitcher Kylie Vry from the contest.

Erin Nesbit would commit the lone error of the contest, overthrowing amidst Ashley Hewett's infield grounder which would allow Macias to cut the Flames' deficit to one run, 4-3.

Marsalli would return to the plate, this time with the bases loaded and drove in the go-ahead runs in DeMarco and Kehr to give UIC a 5-4 lead.

After stranding a runner on third in the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs looked to level things with a one-out triple from secondbasemen Ali Bainbridge. But Devin Miller, who came in relief in the sixth closed out the game in the Flames' favor with a swinging strikeout and a liner straight back at herself to open the season with a W.

"The first game against Mississippi State was a great all-around team effort," said head coach Michelle Venturella. "We played well on both sides of the ball and everyone had great vision of what was going on around them throughout the game. The offense really came through in clutch situations."

Game Two: #10 Washington 8, UIC 0 (Five Innings)
Playing immediately after their win over MSU, the Flames kept the 10th-ranked Huskies at bay in the first two innings, picking up hits from Kehr and catcher Teresa Aguilar along the way.

Washington would put up three runs in the third off a single, double and a two-run homer from Canadian Olympic Team member Jenn Salling.

UIC was held at bay by Washington's pitcher, Kaitlin Inglesby, who would allow only one more hit, an infield single by Hernandez to lead off the fifth inning. A bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth would seal the contest after the Huskies put up four more runs in the fourth for the final 8-0 tally.

"For our first day out, having the chance to be on dirt I thought they did a great job of coming out and maintaining a solid level of composure and playing strong throughout the majority of the day," said Venturella.