University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Louisville
Saveriano Shines As Softball Earns Split At Louisville
4/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 13, 2011
STORRS, Conn. (April 13, 2011) - The University of Connecticut softball team traveled to Louisville, Ky. and earned a split with the Cardinals. Louisville took game one, 2-1. UConn bounced back in game two, winning 5-1. Sophomore Kiki Saveriano (Lexington, Mass.) pitched all 13 innings on the day and allowed just three runs.
Connecticut's overall record jumped to 16-17 with a 4-3 record in BIG EAST action while Louisville advanced to 31-11 overall and 9-2 in the BIG EAST Conference.The Huskies suffered a heart-breaking defeat in game one, falling on a walk-off single by Jennifer Esteban in the bottom of the seventh.
Esteban opened the scoring for Louisville in the bottom of the first inning when she scored on a two-out double by Chelsea Bemis. Both Louisville runs on the day were unearned.
UConn evened the score in the top of the second inning with a solo shot from sophomore Kim Silva (Cheshire, Conn.). The long ball to center field was her third of the season. Silva is now batting .347 on the season after hitting just .181 as a freshman.
Saveriano held the Cardinals scoreless for five straight frames before Esteban's last-inning heroics.
Game two saw Louisville take a 1-0 lead in the first inning again only to have Saveriano blank the Cardinals for the remaining six frames.
Saveriano finished game two with five strikeouts while allowing eight hits and just two walks.
The Huskies did the majority of their damage in the top of the fourth, notching four runs to take the lead for good at 4-1. Amy Vaughan (Somerset, Mass.) evened the score at 1-1 when she dropped a bunt, scoring freshman Andrea Huelsenbeck (Rockaway, N.J.).
Sophomore Marissa Guches (Sammamish, Wash.) drove home Silva to make it 2-1 before senior Julieanne Towers (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) drove home her team-leading 28th and 29th RBI's of the season with a single up the middle.
Huelsenbeck made it 5-1 in the top of the seventh with an RBI single plating Guches.
On the day, Saveriano finished with 13 innings, three runs allowed (zero earned) and 11 K's. Towers finished the day 4-for-6 with two RBI.
The Huskies will be off until they host a three-game set with Pittsburgh beginning with a double-header starting at Noon on Saturday, April 16. The two teams will finish the season series with an 11 a.m. contest on Sunday. All three games will be played at the Connecticut Softball Stadium on the Storrs campus.
