Jessica Mendoza had a 3-3 Night
Kissimmee, FL- Jessica Mendoza’s bat would be key as the Pride edged the Racers 1-0 on Thursday night. Both teams would only manage ___ hits in the pitchers duel, featuring Danielle Lawrie for the Pride and Lisa Norris for the Racers. Danielle Lawrie held the Racers to 2 hits for the game, while claiming her 8th win of the season, putting her at 8-2 on the 2011 season. Lisa Norris would drop her 8th game of the season, setting her at 6-8 on the season.
The Pride would start off the game with back to back singles by Mendoza and Morgan, but Norris would get out of the early jam by getting Francesca Enea to ground out to third.
In the bottom of the second, the Racers would be the first to put a runner into scoring position after a two out double by Megan Bush, but weren’t able to capitalize after Lawrie would retire Roya St. Clair on the strikeout.
The Pride in the bottom of the third would get their chance to score, as Melissa Roth would lead off with a single to right field. Natasha Watley would follow it up by hitting a sac bunt to the pitcher, pushing Roth into scoring position. After a Charters strikeout, it would bring up Mendoza who would single to right field scoring Roth from second, giving the Pride a 1-0 lead going into the fourth.
The opportunity would come for the Pride again in the bottom of the 6th as Jessica Mendoza would once again put the Pride in position to score, leading off with a double the right center making her 3-3 for the game. Mendoza would be moved over to third on the groundout by Morgan. A walk and then a stolen base by Enea would put runners on both second and third, then a walk by Kretschman would load the bases for the Pride. Kelsey Bruder would then come up for the Pride and hit a sacrifice fly to left center, bringing Mendoza in to score and advancing the runners, making it 2-0 Pride. The momentum would continue for the Pride as Andrea Duran would take a low fastball deep over the left field fence for a 3 run homer, giving the Pride a 5-0 advantage.
The Racers would be retired in the 7th, handing the Pride their 20th victory of the season and giving the Racers their 13th loss. The USSSA Pride remain atop the NPF Standings with a record of 20-7. Danielle Lawrie would be the winning pitcher, holding the Racers to no runs on three hits, striking out 5 and walking two. Lisa Norris would suffer the loss, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, while walking 3 and striking out 4.
The USSSA Pride will continue in their final home games in Florida against the Akron Racers at ESPN Wide World of Sports tomorrow night, July 29th at 7:05PM. Come out and support your favorite NPF Team. For more information visit usssapride.com.
About USSSA Pride
