Tuesday
The Saint Xavier softball team played in a doubleheader against Trinity International University. The Cougars dominated their conference foe in convincing fashion with the highlight of the day coming from the starting pitcher of game one, Nicole Nonnemacher.
The Cougars opened the first game by scoring one run in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. The run was scored on an RBI walk by catcher Jessica Arebalo.
After holding the Trojans scoreless in the top half of the second inning, the Cougars added to their lead, scoring one more run in the bottom of the second off of a sacrifice fly by shortstop Rebeka Ferguson to make their lead 2-0.
After pitching another scoreless inning in the top of the third, you could feel that something special could happen for Nicole Nonnemacher. After coming so close to pitching a perfect game earlier in the season, it felt like she just might be able to notch that elusive perfect game on her belt.
Adding into that, the Cougars offense gave her plenty of run support, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to extend the Cougars’ lead to 6-0.
In the top of the fourth, Nonnemacher’s perfect game bid continued as she would strike out the side to keep her on the path to a perfect game. The perfect game would become easier to attain for her after the Cougars added another three runs to their lead in the bottom of the fourth to push the score to 9-0.
In the top of the fifth inning, Nonnemacher was just three outs away from achieving perfection. With so much pressure on her and with the fans watching in anticipation to see if she could complete the perfect game, she remained calm, cool, and collected en rout to striking out the side and finally throwing a perfect game in the Cougars’ 9-0 win.
After such an incredible outing, it was very obvious who the star of the game was. Not only did Nonnemacher pitch a perfect game, but she did not even allow a batter to put the ball into play, striking out all 15 batters that she faced in the game. With the perfect game, she also moved her record to 15-2 on the season.
Even though Nonnemacher got all the attention in this game, the Cougars’ offense also contributed to their success. The offense was led by second baseman Savannah Kinsella who scored two runs herself and drove in three runs as well.
Coming off the momentum of Nonnemacher’s perfect game, the Cougars would once again start out hot, scoring one run in the bottom of the first to take another early 1-0 lead off of an RBI single by third baseman Franchesca Graffeo.
After a scoreless second inning, the Cougars went on the offensive, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning to extend their lead to 4-0. To a lesser extent, this game was much like the first game as pitcher Caroline Kuzel dominated the game from start to finish.
In fact, Kuzel was on her way to a no-hitter until Trinity International hit a single in the top of the fifth inning. The Cougars added two more runs in the bottom of the six to seal the deal and sweep Trinity International by winning the second game by a final score of 6-0.
Kuzel had a terrific outing in this game, pitching a complete game shutout while only allowing two hits and one walk and striking out five batters. Kuzel’s dominant performance resulted in her getting her first win of the season.
The Cougars’ offense had a phenomenal day. Individually, they were led by catcher Holly Hilden and right fielder Denise Anderson who combined to collect four of the team’s six RBIs. As a team, the Cougars had 14 hits in 30 at bats for a robust team batting average of .466.
With the sweep, the Cougars’ record moved to 31-3-2 with a conference record of 13-0-1.
Wednesday
The Saint Xavier softball team battled a NCAA D-II team in Lewis University. The Cougars played valiantly against their opponents, losing the first game in close fashion and winning the second game in even closer fashion.
Game one started out well for the Cougars as they scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. The run was scored thanks to an RBI single by designated hitter and right fielder Caroline Kuzel.
For the majority of the game, pitcher Nicole Nonnemacher was her usually dominant self as she allowed the Flyers to record just two hits through the first six innings of the game.
Unfortunately for Nonnemacher, her success in the first six innings would not carry over into the final inning as Lewis would rally in the top of the seventh inning to score three runs to take a 3-1 lead.
The Cougars seemed devastated by the blown lead and could not answer Lewis’ rally with one of their own, effectively ending the first game and allowing Lewis to win game by the aforementioned score of 3-1.
Despite blowing the lead in the top of the seventh, Nonnemacher still had a great game. She pitched all seven innings and allowed six hits and one walk while giving up three runs and striking out 11.
It would be ignorant though to put all the blame on Nonnemacher, as she received no help from her offense in game one, as the team combined to have a team batting average of .160. Coming off of their come from behind win, the Flyers came out strong in game two, scoring two runs in the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Determined not to get swept and to prove they could beat a NCAA team, the Cougars rallied in the bottom of the third inning, scoring five runs to take the lead at 5-2. In the top of the fifth, Lewis responded with a run of their own to cut the Cougars’ lead to 5-3.
The Cougars showed their resiliency once again in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring one run off of an RBI single by second baseman Savannah Kinsella to push their lead to 6-3.
In the top of the seventh, Lewis came back with the same intensity and skill that allowed them to rally in the seventh inning of the last game and ultimately take a win away from the Cougars.
After scoring two runs in the top of the seventh, the opposition would have a man on first and second base with one out left to make their comeback
With the game on the line and not really having her best stuff on this day, pitcher Callie Brown came up huge and forced the final Lewis batter to foul out, giving the Cougars a 6-5 win and a split of their doubleheader.
The Cougars’ offense rebounded in a big way after their disappointing showing in game one. Lead by shortstop Rebeka Ferguson’s two RBIs, the Cougars scored six runs in the game and needed every one of those runs to secure the victory.
With the split, the Cougars record moved to 32-4-2 with a conference record of 13-0-1.
Saturday
The Saint Xavier softball team played against Robert Morris University in a doubleheader. On Senior Day, the Cougars dominated their opponents thanks to their dominant pitching staff.
The Cougars had a great start to the game, scoring two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. The two runs were scored off of a sacrifice fly by center fielder Shannon Lauret and an RBI groundout by catcher Jessica Arebalo.
Like most games that starting pitcher Nicole Nonnemacher has pitched in, she was dominant. In fact, the lone run that was scored in this game was scored off of an error by Saint Xavier.
Meanwhile, the Cougars would add onto their 2-0 lead in the fourth inning off a home run by Arebalo to extend their lead to 3-0. They would also extend their lead in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring two and three runs respectively to give the Cougars an impressive 8-1 game one win.
As previously stated, Nonnemacher was dominant in this game. She pitched a complete game and allowed only three hits while striking out a ridiculous 19 batters en rout to her 16th win of the season. The Cougars’ offense was charged by Lauret as she led the team with four RBIs in game one.
Game two started out as a pitchers duel for the first three innings of the game as neither pitcher would allow anything to happen until the bottom of the third inning. In that half, the Cougars would surge, scoring four runs to take a 4-0 lead.
After holding Robert Morris scoreless in the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars would score a run in the bottom of the fourth, despite not recording a hit in the inning, to extend their lead to 5-0. Starting pitcher Callie Brown pitched one of her best games of the year.
She may not have struck out a lot of batters, but she had full control of the plate and rarely allowed a runner on base. The Cougars would put the finishing touches on this game by scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth and winning the game by a score of 7-0.
Once again Brown was dominant, pitching a complete game shutout and only allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five batters to seal the deal and collect her 16th win of the season. Arebalo led the team in RBIs in this game with three of them, while Lauret led the team in hits with three.
With the sweep, the Cougars’ record stands at 34-4-2 with a conference record of 15-0-1. Due to a postponement of games, the Cougars next game will be on April 21, against Calumet College of St. Joesph.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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