Baldwin-Wallace Box
Iowa Wesleyan Box
Tucson, Ariz. – Cardinal Stritch University struggled to field the ball on the first day of the Tucson Invitational. In the first game against Baldwin-Wallace College the Wolves committed four errors and lost 20-4. The errors continued in the second game of the day against Iowa Wesleyan College. Stritch committed eight errors and lost a close game 12-11.
The Yellow Jackets jumped on the Wolves early and often. Mallory Kobak (Independence, Ohio) singled to start the game for Baldwin-Wallace College. After reaching first, Kobak stole second base to reach scoring position. She advanced to third on a single by Chelsea Saunders (Medina, Ohio). Kobak scored on a sacrifice fly by Tanya Davis (Hinckley, Ohio). In the bottom of the first Stritch put two runners on base but could not get them across to score. By the end of the first inning Stritch was down 2-0.
Baldwin-Wallace offense was firing on all cylinders in the top of the second inning. The first six batters for the Yellow Jackets reached base safely. Baldwin-Wallace scored seven runs on six hits and left one runner on base.
Stritch looked like they would battle back in the bottom of the second inning. Hillary Trebiatowski (Plover, Wis.) started the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Megan Weber (Salem, Wis.) was hit by a pitch, putting two Wolves runners on base. With two outs in the inning, Trebiatowski and Weber pulled a double steal to advance both runners into scoring position. They both were driven home by Kelly Gosselin, (Batavia, Ill.) who hit a double, but nothing more would happen for Stritch. By the end of the second inning, Stritch was down 9-2.
The Yellow Jackets offense did not cool off in the third inning. Baldwin-Wallace pounded out seven more runs and added five hits to their totals in the third inning. Stritch went down in order in the bottom of the third and were down 16-2 after three completed innings.
The scoring continued for Stritch in the fourth inning. Gosselin collected her third run batted in (RBI) on the day by driving home Weber. That was all Stritch would get in the fourth and were still down 16-3.
Baldwin-Wallace continued to score runs in bunches. In the fifth inning, they added four runs on three hits. Stritch added a run themselves after Kayla Schlegel (New Berlin, Wis.) reached base on an error, which scored Katie Giuffre (Hamilton, Wis.).
The loss for the Wolves gives them a 0-3 record on the year and the Yellow Jackets improve to 6-3 in 2010.
The errors kept occurring in the second game against the Tigers of Iowa Wesleyan College. The Wolves committed eight errors but still had a chance to win the game.
Stritch’s offense came to life in the second game of the day. The Wolves were led at the plate by Kelly Gosselin and Jodi Kruszka (Oak Creek, Wis.). Both of these players had two hits.
Stritch started the scoring. In the top of the first, Gosselin hit a double and then stole third. She was driven in by Kruszka’s single. This gave the Stritch an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was short lived because the Tigers came back and answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the first. Stritch was down 2-1 after the first.
Stritch answered back in the top of the second inning with one run, when Trebiatowski scored on an error by the catcher. In the bottom of the second Iowa Wesleyan answered with three runs of their own to extend the Tigers lead to 5-2.
The Wolves battled back in the top of the third. With two outs in the top of the second, and Brittany Rader (New Berlin, Wis.) on first, Rader stole second base. Rader scored on a double by Kayla Schlegel. Stritch scored one more in the third.
Iowa Wesleyan continued to score in the bottom of the third. Wesleyan extended the lead in the bottom to 9-4 after scoring four runs.
The Wolves and the Tigers continued to trade runs and going into the top the seventh the Wolves were down 12-6.
In the top of the seventh, Stritch’s comeback came up short. Stritch scored five runs but only recorded one hit and left the tying run on base. The Wolves fell to the Tigers 12-11.
The loss dropped Stritch’s record to 0-4 and Iowa Wesleyan picked up their first win and improved to 1-6.