University of North Florida
Bethune Cookman
Hit parade leads to
Wilmoth's 400th win at UNF
3/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
Gwen Williams set a single-game record with seven
RBIs - four of which came on a grand slam - to help
give University of North Florida softball coach Sonya
Wilmoth her 400th victory at the helm of the Lady
Osprey softball program.
Williams' onslaught led to a 17-1 UNF (23-14) win
against Bethune-Cookman (11-20) in the opening
game of a doubleheader, before the Tori Ahern shut
down the Wildcats in an 8-0 victory in game two at the
UNF Softball Complex.
UNF out-hit BCC 20-6 on the afternoon and slugged
three home runs, two of which Heather Hyde delivered
in the opening game.
"The bats looked good today," Wilmoth said. "It's nice
to see us hit the ball hard and score some runs."
Williams and the rest of the Lady Ospreys sent a quick
message to Bethune-Cookman, scoring 10 runs in
the opening inning of play. Williams highlighted the
inning with a grand slam four batters into the contest,
then capped off the scoring in the opening frame with
a triple to right that plated two more runs. She finished
the game a single short of hitting for the cycle.
Between Williams' at-bats Heather Hyde hit a two-run
home run and Elizabeth Howell drove home a pair of
runs with a single. By the time all the damage was
accounted for, UNF had sent 15 batters the plate,
scoring 10 runs on seven hits.
Kelli Rutenbar, Howell and Williams all had two hits in
the inning.
UNF went on to score six more runs in the bottom of
the third. Heather Hyde hit her second home run of the
game, smashing a ball down the left field line for her
fourth home run of the year, while Ashley Parenteau
also had a pair of RBIs.
Hyde finished the game with five RBIs as part of an
afternoon that saw her go 3-for-6 with seven RBIs and
five runs. Stephanie Luciani and Laura Williams each
contributed to the hit parade as well, with Luciani
driving in a run.
Not only was the win the 400th of Wilmoth's career at
UNF, but it was also the biggest margin of victory for a
UNF team coached by Wilmoth.
Wilmoth started working on her next 400 wins in game
two when her squad opened up a 5-0 lead in the
bottom of the second. Christina Evans scored two with
an RBI single before Howell followed her with an RBI
double that made it a 5-0 game. Hyde led off the third
with a single and scored one of her three runs on a
Mallory Butler RBI single, before Lauren Pulling
capped off the game with a base hit up the middle that
scored Williams and Hyde in the bottom of the fourth.
Williams scored after leading off the inning with a
base hit that extended her hitting streak to seven
games. Pulling finished the game 2-for-3 with two
RBIs and a run, while Howell completed a day that
saw her go a combined 4-for-6 with four RBIs and
three runs.
That was more than enough for Ahern (5-4) who
allowed only two hits, while walking one and striking
out three. Devyn Findley (10-2) struck out eight to
capture the win in the opener.
Lanaya Jenkins (6-14) suffered both losses for BCC.
Andrea Thomas collected the lone RBI of the day for
the Wildcats, driving home Jenkins in the opener.
The Lady Ospreys will take their bats on the road this
weekend when they head to Nashville for
doubleheaders at Lipscomb on Friday and Belmont
on Saturday.
