Glory's MySpace blog entry.

Game recap.

This is an away game, so no detailed recap tonight. This is what I've learned from the blog entry and the NPF game recap. (Note: Sorry about the delay getting this posted last night - about the time I finished it, my internet connection went down.)

Desiree Serrano started, which is to be expected in the first game of a series now (until Monica arrives next weekend, and then who knows what they'll do). She pitched very well, especially considering she had no run support for the first five innings (which is unusual for us). She gave up one run in the 4th, as Jenn Poore drove in Kristen Butler.

Through five innings, the only hit for the Glory was a 2nd-inning single from Nichole Thompson (although we did have a few walks as well). But our bats finally arrived in the sixth, when we were down 1. (Perhaps the bats were being shipped separately to Akron, and that's why they were late to the game?) LaDonia Hughes started the inning with a fly out to left. Leadoff batter Catalina Morris then beat out a bunt to get the tying run on base. The blog says that Nicole Barber then sac-bunted to get Cat to third, but that's wrong, she was bunted to second. As so often happens when we sac-bunt and open first base in front of Amber Jackson, they walked her to pitch to Nichole Thompson. But Nichole made Akron pay for that decision tonight, driving in Cat with a single to center to tie the game. Another walk to Oli loaded the bases for my UVA girl Sara Larquier, who singled to right to drive in the go-ahead run (Amber), and an insurance run (Nichole) just in case it was needed (and it was). If we had pinch-run for Oli before Sarah's hit, Brooke would have likely been at third, since the ball went to right field. But Oli stopped at second, and THEN we put Brooke in for her. With Brooke on second and two outs, Stephanie Best flew out to center to end the inning. Although it seems like the delay in inserting the pinch runner wouldn't have mattered after all, my bet is that the pitcher throws a little differently when someone is on third base instead of second. We were up 3-1 in the middle of the sixth.

No runs were scored in the bottom of the sixth or the top of the seventh, so Des went out to the circle for the bottom of the seventh with a 2-run lead. Even though she had only allowed one run on 3 hits up to this point, when she gave up a leadoff double to Caitlin Benyi, she was yanked for Sarah Pauly. Sarah came soooo close to not allowing that run to score. She got a comebacker from Kristin Johnson, which advanced Benyi to third. Benyi stayed put on another comebacker from Tracee McCoy, but McCoy reached on what was ruled a single. First and third, one out. Top-5 hitter Veronica Wootson grounded out to Amber, who held the runner at third while recording the out at first. The tying run, McCoy advanced to second on the play, so with nearly .400 hitter Norrelle Dickson at the plate, we were likely pitching carefully. During this at-bat, Callie was charged with a passed ball, which allowed Benyi to score (run charged to Des, unearned) and McCoy to advance to third. Dickson would then walk, bringing up Iyhia McMichael, who leads Akron in HRs and RBIs. A single would tie the game, and a double could end it, but Sarah got McMichael to go down looking for only the second time all season. Way to go Sarah!

Des got the win, her league-leading 15th, against 3 losses. Radara McHugh took the loss, which is only her 4th of the year, and 3 of them came against us! (June 29 and July 1 were the others.) Sarah Pauly's magic act in the 7th earned her her second save of the year. She now takes not only the team lead in that stat, but the league lead as well.

End Notes: It was good to see our two injured players in the lineup tonight. Thompson, who had sat out the last game, was back at second. You might also recall that Oli bounced a foul ball off her foot or leg in the last game, but she was back at first base tonight.

Pinch hitters tonight were Jessica Moore batting for Callie in the seventh, grounding out to third, followed one out later by Germaine Fairchild for Morris. She walked twice in the previous game, and she did it again tonight. (She's also a catcher, so Morris went back in to run!)

I've been reading some things lately about Amber Jackson being the front-runner for rookie of the year. It's very tough to determine who in the league is a rookie, but I know her stats compare very well against pretty much everyone else in the league, so I'd say she has a shot at MVP as well.