The Lakeland softball team played host to the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats today at Laker Field. The Lakers were the "visitors" in todays games and rolled to a 13-0 and 7-4 sweep of the Bobcats. With the wins, the Lakers improve their record to 10-5-1 (10-3-1). In game one, Lakeland dominated on the mound and with the bats. Bailey Cravens came within one batter of a perfect game in the 5 inning shut-out. Cravens finished with a no-hitter and faced only one batter over the minimum, a Bobcat walk. She also added 3 strikeouts. In the top of the 1st inning, Lakeland set the tone offensively for the game by scoring 2 runs quickly. Lindsey Fergus started things with a single. With two outs, Bailey Cravens singled. Both runners were then brought home on a Mia Cipriano double. The Lakers would tack 2 more runs on in the top of the 2nd inning. Again, the key plays would occur with two outs. A Georgia Biggs walk was followed by a Casey McHugh triple. McHugh would then score on another Fergus single. Lakeland would increase their lead to 5-0 in the 3rd inning as Bailey Cravens would score on a Gina Grandini single. The Lakers would score 3 more runs in the 4th inning. Casey McHugh and Lindsey Fergus would hit consecutive singles before Tatianna Matuz unloaded for her 8th home run of the year. Lakeland would then close out the scoring by pushing 5 runs across in the 5th inning. Megan Wallace would lead off with a single and steal 2nd base. She would advance to 3rd on a fielders choice by Georgia Biggs and then score on a passed ball. Casey McHugh would then double and score on another single by Lindsey Fergus. With no one on base, Tatianna Matuz started things back up again with a double. Matuz would later score on a Bailey Cravens single. Mia Cipriano then stepped to the plate and hit a line drive home run, her 5th of the year, to close out the scoring.

In the game, the Lakers pounded out 22 hits. Mia Cipriano was 4-4 with 2 singles, a double, a home run, and 4 RBI's. Lindsey Fergus also finished 4-4 with 4 singles and 2 RBI's. Casey McHugh finished with 3 hits - a home run short of the cycle - while also scoring three times. Gina Grandini and Bailey Cravens each picked up 3 singles. Tatianna Matuz and Madison Tatka would each finish with 2 hits while Megan Wallace picked up a hit for the Lakers in the win.

Game two was a different story. The Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning after a leadoff walk by Megan Wallace. She advanced to 2nd on a passed ball and then scored on a Georgia Biggs RBI-single. The Bobcats would take their first lead of the day by pushing across 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Lakeland answered right back by scoring 2 runs of their own to regain the lead in the top of the 5th inning. Biggs started the inning with a lead-off walk. Casey McHugh followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Lindsey Fergus then stepped up and plated Biggs with a deep sac fly. McHugh would then steal 3rd base and score on a fielders choice from Tatianna Matuz. The Lakers would add to their lead in the 6th when Gina Grandini led off with a single. Grandini advanced on a fielders choice and then scored on another RBI-single from Georgia Biggs. The Bobcats answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the 6th to make the score 4-3. In the top of the 7th inning, the Lakers broke it open scoring 3 runs on 4 hits.  Lindsey Fergus would lead off with a single before Tatianna Matuz followed with a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Bailey Cravens then delivered a 2-RBI double to widen the lead to 6-3. She later scored on a Madison Tatka RBI-single. 

Lakeland picked up 10 hits in the nightcap. Gina Grandini added 3 more hits on the day while Georgia Biggs and Tatianna Matuz each collected 2 hits and an RBI for the Lakers. Georgia Biggs went the distance on the mound to pick up the win allow 9 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), while striking out 7 batters.

Morganti Mentions: "We were able to get two strong pitching performances today which set us up for the wins.  I was pleased with the way we swung the bats in the first game and were able to find different ways to score in game two. We play hard as a team and I'm really pleased with our overall effort. We need to get this behind us though as we have two more tomorrow."   

Next Up: The Lakers will host the Bobcats in a doubleheader again tomorrow. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.