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DELAND, Fla. – Led by an outstanding performance from sophomore Alyssa Bilodeau in the circle and a three-run home run from freshman Serena Quinata, the #5 seed Jacksonville University softball avenged last year's ASUN Tournament elimination with a 7-0 victory over the #4 seed Lipscomb in the opening round , Wednesday evening at Stetson's Patricia Wilson Field.
Jacksonville improves to 27-27 overall, while Lipscomb falls to 32-16 on the year. The Dolphins will take on the ASUN Regular Season Champions and #1 seed Kennesaw State tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
"I'm excited for the kids. They put a solid softball game together; Alyssa had good stuff tonight. She got ahead in the count and really gave us a chance keeping [Lipscomb] to four hits. It was just an overall team effort," stated Head Coach Erica Ayers.
Drawing a leadoff walk to open the game, Allie McCourt stole her record-extending 38th base of the season, then advanced to third on a ground out. Batting a team-best .354 heading into the tournament, senior Madison Ragan drew a four-ball walk to put two Dolphins on with two outs, but a pop up to Lipscomb's shortstop in shallow left center ended the Dolphins' early scoring opportunity.
The Dolphins' scoring drought didn't last long, however, as heads-up base running from senior Jordan Daniels got Jacksonville on the board with two outs in the top of the second. After drawing a walk and advancing to second on a Bison error, Daniels stole third. As the throw to third sailed into foul territory, Daniels scampered down the line to put the Dolphins and crossed the plate as the throw to sailed into foul territory.
"I give Jordan credit, she got us started scoring. She read the defense like we teach them to and she did a good job. It's always good to score first," added Ayers.
Lipscomb threatened in the bottom half of the inning with two outs and a runner on third, but Bilodeau painted the outside corner to end Lipscomb's scoring threat.
Jacksonville added a trio of runs in the top of the fourth as Quinata, facing a 2-2 count with two outs, smacked a three-run home run over the left field fence to push the Dolphins lead to 4-0.
"Serena gave us some breathing room, but that doesn't happen if Makenzie Buss and Kristen Griffith don't also have great at-bats and draw those walks," credited Ayers. "To be patient like that and have those three great at bats was huge. We were excited for Serena, for the team, for the breathing room. With a four-run lead, one swing of the bat can't win it for the other team."
It was all Roberts sisters for the next run, as freshman Hannah Roberts smoked a ball up the middle to bring in senior Heather Roberts around from second and make it 5-0 Jacksonville in the top of the fifth.
Two more runs were plated in the top of the seventh, beginning with an RBI double from Ragan on a long double to the left-center fence. Daniels then brought in Heather Roberts on a sacrifice fly out to center field to make it 7-0 in favor of the Dolphins.
Bilodeau allowed just four hits and struck out two in her 17th complete game of the year for the win to improve to 16-11 on the year.
Lipscomb's Mandy Jordan struck out three and gave up four runs in 4.0 innings of work, while Chloe Yeager allowed three runs on five hits in the final 3.0 innings.
