Buccaneers triumph in NJCAA softball opener 6-1
ST. GEORGE, Utah – No. 5 seed Florida SouthWestern State College picked up the program’s first win in the NJCAA National Softball Tournament Wednesday by advancing to the second round of the winner’s bracket with a 6-1 win over San Jacinto-South.
The Bucs (53-14) faced No. 4 Butler at 7 p.m. Thursday. The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday.
Molly Roark led the Bucs, finishing 2-for-2 with a double, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Tori Foster went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Hollianne Dohrn went 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBI and Mikayla Werahiko finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. Suncoast Conference Pitcher of the Year and current NJCAA leader in innings pitched (275.1), wins (39), complete games (35) and games started (42) Courtney Gettins pitched seven innings and surrendered just five hits and one earned run, while fanning six batters.
The Suncoast Conference champions got on the board first in the bottom of the first. After Werahiko reached on a fielder’s choice, Roark doubled to left scoring Werahiko for 1-0 lead. Dohrn stepped into the box and homered to right-center to push the Bucs’ lead to 3-0.
FSW added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Kayla Rangiawha’s sac-fly to center scored Roark to give the Bucs a 4-0 advantage.
San Jacinto-South ended the shutout in the top of the fourth when Gabby Gonzalez launched a solo homer to left (4-1).
The Buccaneers went on to seal the win after adding a run in the bottom of the fifth on a sac-fly by Roark that scored Werahiko and a run in the bottom of the sixth when Savannah Retallick doubled to drive in Tori Foster.
Butler (49-4), which advanced by defeating Howard College 11-2 in six innings, extended its winning streak to 34 consecutive games. Butler ranks seventh in the country in doubles (134), while ranking in the top 10 in batting average (.389; 9th) and stolen bases (132; 10th).
Butler also ranks second in the NJCAA in batting average against, holding opponents to just .218.