Junior Audra Rast hurled her second one-hitter of the season and Cutie Taylor smacked her seventh home run, in two defeats over the Bulldogs, 8-0, 10-2, at the Redbird Softball Complex on Saturday.
Rast, now 12-2, 7-0 in Valley action, threw her ninth straight win for the Redbirds (15-11, 9-1), marking the most wins in her Redbird career. The right-hander from Tucson, Ariz., was happy with her performance on the mound and complimented her teammates on their effort.
Today, the winds felt really good and I felt sharp, said Rast. I think I had some momentum going and I was throwing hard. I havent felt that way in a while. Our team was also hitting really well and they backed me up out there on defense.
The Redbirds combined for 28 hits in the two games against Bulldog pitcher, Molly Henry, including 10 extra base hits. Abbie Scott, who leads the team in doubles with seven, and Dominique Borba, who went 4-5 at the plate, each ripped two doubles for the Birds, while Shae Wesley, Mandy Garner, Lauren Bierwirth, Kate Stake and Taylor had one apiece.
Defensively, the Birds were errorless picking up 33 putouts in the games and ending with a .978 fielding percentage.
Taylor, left fielder and senior co-captian, remains the home run leader in the Missouri Valley Conference with seven hitting a powerful .413 at the plate. She continues to chase the single-season home run record set by Heather Stella in 1999 with 13.
In game two, Corey Harris picked up her fourth win on the year improving her record to 4-7.
The Redbirds are set to play the Bulldogs again on Sunday, April 7, at the Redbird Softball Complex at noon.
