Mendoza blast puts Pride over Bandits, 2-1, in game one Sulphur, La. -- With eyes on the ball, Chicago’s Emily Friedman raced towards the left field foul pole, tracking a bomb off the bat of Florida’s Jessica Mendoza. With Kelly Kretschman on first, Friedman crashed through the outfield fence, attempting to grab the ball on her way down. Friedman couldn’t hold on though as the hit went for a 2-run home run, giving the Pride a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. The Pride and Cat Osterman would hold tight, deflecting a number of Bandits scoring opportunities to squeak out the game one victory for Florida. With No. 1 seed Chicago’s Stacy May on third base and two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Samantha Findlay stepped into the batters box to face off with USSS... [More]