Game recap.

NPF website story. 

Tonight was the 4th matchup between Sarah Pauly and Katie Burkhart, and the Glory have yet to win one of these. Would tonight be any different?

The Glory threatened but could not score in the top of the 1st. Barber singled up the middle and stole second, but Oli and Amber Jackson were unable to bring her home.

The Force got even closer to scoring, as McDonald walked, stole second, and advanced to third on an error by Jackson. But Kellie Wilkerson and Chelsea Spencer failed to plate the run.

Leading off for the Glory in the top of the 2nd was Sara Larquier. Although she entered the night with 9 hits in 22 leadoff at-bats, she fouled out to C. Courtney Bures followed, and she was hit by a pitch for a league-lead tying 10th time. The 2nd HBP in as many nights could mean she's coming out of her slump. After a Catalina Morris flyout, Bures was caught stealing to end the inning.

A 1-2-3 inning from Pauly left us with no score after 2 innings.

The Glory batters followed with a 1-2-3 inning of their own, but the Force were not so cooperative. After two outs, Burnum walked, then stole second. But Pauly got McDonald to go down swinging to end the inning. Still scoreless after 3 innings.

That would all change in the 4th. After a Barber groundout, Oli lined a shot off the left field fence, but it was so well hit that she only got a single from it. Jackson forced pinch-runner Miranda at second with a fielder's choice, just beating out the double play to keep the inning alive. Larquier was hit by a pitch to put Jackson in scoring position for Bures. And she delivered, with a single into left field to get Jackson around to score. Both runners moved up on the throw, but Morris stranded them with a popup to SS.

With a 1-run lead, Taryne Mowatt relieved Pauly. This meant that Sarah would not lose to Burkhart tonight, which makes me wonder if this was why the switch was made. But at this point she was no-hitting the Force, so the move is highly questionable. Also coming in to the game was Callista Balko, replacing Callie Piper at catcher. (Obviously Callie was not hurt enough by the HBP last night, or at least not enough to sit out tonight.)

Mowatt got two quick outs before walking Trena Peel. But Jackson made a nice play on a line shot from Megan Gibson to keep the Force scoreless. We had a 1-0 lead after 4 innings.

The top of the 5th was started by newly entered catcher Balko, and she made at least that particular substitution move look brilliant. She followed Larquier's lead and aimed at the Big Red Chair beyond the fence in left field. She too was unable to pop it, but it still counted as her first professional HR. We then went 1-2-3, but so did the Force, and we were up 2-0 after 5 innings. (We made some changes for the bottom of the 5th, as Larquier moved to first and Jessica Dignon replaced Jessica Moore at DP, and came in to play 3B. Oli became the DP.)

The 6th was another scoring chance for the Glory, as a 2-out walk to Larquier followed by a wild pitch put a runner at 2nd for Bures. But a popup to SS ended the inning.

The bottom of the 6th meant the top of the order for the Force. Three popups later and the inning was over. Still up 2 with one inning left.

Two runs is certainly better than one, but wouldn't a third by nice? With Serrano warming up in the bullpen, Morris grounded out to second for the first out of the inning. Balko tried to repeat her chair-popping attempt, but it stayed foul. She then looked at strike three to bring Dignon to the plate for her first at-bat of the night. She hit a rope just off the outstreched glove of a leaping Claire Burnum at third. The ball was slowed enough for SS Spencer to grab it and throw to first, but Dignon was well past the bag for a base hit. Hughes left her there as she went down swinging. So 2 runs would have to do, facing the heart of the order.

Desiree Serrano entered the game for the bottom of the 7th, attempting to earn her first save. This was also a very questionable move, as we removed another pitcher after 3 no-hit innings. I don't think I've ever heard of 3 pitchers combining for a no-hitter, at least not in the NPF.

Cleanup hitter Spencer battled well, before getting the first Force hit of the game with a single to right. Trena Peel stepped in, having already caused much grief for the Glory in the last 2 series. But Desi got her to go down swinging in three pitches for a big first out. Megan Gibson was next, and I have yet to see her hit like she did in college. After 2 straight balls, Coach Carie complains to the umpire about "artificial noise" being made by the mascot. The ump makes it stop, even though we do the same thing with Gloria. The crowd gets noisy while Desi fights back to even the count at 2-2. For some reason, Coach Carie then decides to mess with Desi's rhythm after throwing two straight strikes, as she then convenes a meeting in the circle. The next two pitches were balls, walking Gibson. So that coaching move backfired.

Runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Savannah Long apparently hits much better off us in Philly than she did in DC. She singles to right, scoring 1 and putting the tying run at third. Squeeze bunt coming to tie the game? Kristen Miller up, but she doesn't show bunt on the first pitch. What about the runner from first stealing second? Nope. Miller works the count to 3-2, allowing Long to take off from first on the next pitch. Miller fouls back a pitch, then goes down in pain. Whatever happened, she continues the at-bat, with the count still full. She hits it out, but just foul. The next pitch is ball 4, which loads the bases.

This is both good and bad. It means the play at the plate is now a force play, but it also puts the winning run at second base with just one out. Number 9 hitter Emily Friedman could end the game. She does, doubling off the wall to score 2 runs.

Wow. Those moves look great when they work, but they look really stupid when they don't.

Pauly and Mowatt both had great half-games, obviously. They both threw 3 no-hit innings. Pauly walked 2 and struck out 4, while Mowatt walked 1 and struck out 2. One of these two ladies should have pitched the 7th. Desi had just thrown 7 the night before, and she just didn't have it tonight. She gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 1. The loss is her 6th of the year, against 10 wins. Katie Burkhart got the win, her 4th against us, though tonight she definitely should have lost her second against us. She is now 11-4 on the season.