Senior Karli Ricketts winds up in the pitcher’s circle in the 2021 season. Ricketts pitched 13 innings over the weekend, picking up two wins and not allowing a single run. Photo courtesy of butlersports.com.
SARAH HOHMAN | SPORTS REPORTER | shohman@butler.edu
The Butler softball team traveled to Florida this past weekend to compete in spring games. The Bulldogs went 3-2 and are now 7-4 overall on the season.
On Friday, the team first faced off against the Ohio State Buckeyes. They were able to load the bases in the first inning but failed to produce any runs. A total of eight base runners were stranded in Butler’s 0-1 loss. Senior Bri Avery and Freshman Ellie Boyer had the only two hits for the Bulldogs. Junior Mackenzie Griman pitched all six innings for Butler and took the loss. She gave up four hits and one walk, while striking out three batters.
In the second game of the weekend, Butler beat the Hofstra Pride 5-0. Senior Karli Ricketts threw six innings for the Bulldogs and picked up the win. She gave up four hits and one walk, while striking out ten batters. Redshirt senior Madison Seigworth came in from the bullpen for one inning to share the shutout. Senior Gracie Voulgaris and freshman Sydney Carter both produced two RBI’s, while freshman Ella White and Griman each had two hits for the team.
Butler picked up a 2-1 victory over the South Alabama Jaguars to begin Saturday. Graduate Student Alyssa Graves pitched all seven innings and picked up the win. She gave up seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters. In the third inning, Sophomore Monique Hoosen, senior Lauren Fey and Avery all singled to load up the bases. Boyer picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. Avery scored the second run on a wild pitch two batters later. The Jaguars hit a home run in the sixth but never tied the score.
The second game of the day was a 5-0 win over the Monmouth Hawks. Doubles by Boyer and Hoosen and a single by Griman gave Butler a 2-0 lead. Voulgaris went 3-3 and sparked a rally that included singles from Avery, Boyer and Grimian, and sent three more Bulldogs across the plate. Ricketts threw a complete-game shutout for Butler. She allowed only two hits and one walk while also striking out six batters. Ricketts finished the weekend with 13 innings pitched and did not allow a single run — resulting in her being named the Big East Softball Pitcher of the Week for her performance.
In their final game of the tournament, the Bulldogs fell 5-3 to the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. In the first inning, Boyer hit a triple and was then followed up by a sacrifice fly by White to put the Dawgs up 1-0. In the top of the fourth, Fey singled and stole second, third and home to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The Wildcats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a two-run lead. Graves pitched the first 4.2 innings and took the loss. She allowed five runs on five hits and struck out four batters.
The Bulldogs will head to Chattanooga, Tennessee for a tournament at UT-Chattanooga from Friday, Feb. 25 through Sunday, Feb. 27. Butler will face Northern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Chattanooga and Southern Illinois.
