March 13, 2008
Box Score
Los Angeles, CA - Newly-crowned Pacific Coast Softball Conference co-Pitcher of the Week Tiffany Pagano remained on her game with a 12-strikeout one-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Bucknell Thursday afternoon at Smith Field in Los Angeles. The contest between the Lions (16-9) and Bison (3-9) was the opener of the four-day LMU Tournament, which will also feature Illinois-Chicago and UC Santa Barbara.
Pagano (9-4) struck out the side in the first and carried a no-hitter into the third before Ashley Carlson scooted a ball between short and third for an infield hit. That would be all the Bison would get off the tall Lion senior, who struck out at least one batter in each inning. It was her fifth double-digit strikeout performance of the season and 17th of her career as she matched her season-high for strikeouts. Pagano has now allowed four or fewer hits in five of her last six outings.
The Lions did just enough offensively to maintain control of the game, scoring one run in each of the first, second, and fifth innings. Junior Chelsie Tysdal got the Lions going with an RBI double in the first, her team-leading 23rd RBI of the season. In the second, junior Megan Ackerman led off with a single and moved to third when Bucknell pitcher Christie Wiest threw away freshman Priscilla Satete's sacrifice attempted. Ackerman would come home on a fielder's choice off the bat of sophomore J.J. Hartung.
Despite stranding seven runners, the Lions added to their lead in the fifth on sophomore Christine Foley's single, which extended her hitting streak to 11 games, the longest active streak on the season.
Hartung and Tysdal both finished 2-for-3 with an RBI while junior Kirsten Slouber also collected two hits on the afternoon.
Wiest (2-for-5) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks.
The LMU Tournament continues Friday with a round-robin format between Bucknell, Illinois-Chicago, and UC Santa Barbara. Bucknell and UIC kick off the day's play at 10 a.m., followed by UCI vs. UCSB then UCSB vs. Bucknell to conclude the day. LMU returns to action on Saturday against UC Santa Barbara and Bucknell.
