Pitching Staff Shines In Season-Opening Setbacks

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Roosevelt's pitching staff shined in the Lakers' season openers Friday at the Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont.

The duo of Samantha Norman and Kate Sisson picked up where they left off last season, keeping the Lakers' foes off balanced the entire game. Despite the two combining for 21 strikeouts, the Lakers dropped both games Friday, falling 2-0 to Lawrence Tech and 2-1 in eight innings against William Penn.

Sisson got the ball to start the season against the Blue Devils and struck out the first two batters she faced before inducing a pop fly to Emily Zuniga at shortstop. She fanned the final two batters of the second inning to start a run of five straight punchouts then stranded a leadoff double at third with the first of six consecutive strikeouts at the end of the fourth.

The senior finished with 13 strikeouts in 6.1 innings to help give the Lakers hope while the offense struggled to score. It wasn't for a lack of opportunities either as Roosevelt threatened to open the scoring in four of the first six innings before the Blue Devils struck in the seventh.

Brynn Dvoracek ripped a second-inning double and Bailee Reynolds smoked a double in the fourth but neither left the bag. The Lakers loaded the bases in the fifth inning with two outs and put the go-ahead run on third with one away in the sixth.

In the second game of the day, freshman Kailey Hancock got the start in the circle and weaved her way out of trouble in the first inning. She wasn't as fortunate in the second and Norman came on to limit the damage to just the single run with a strikeout and pop fly to strand the bases loaded. Norman struck out two batters in the third and two more in the fifth before the offense created a spark.

Caitlin Williams led off the sixth inning with a bunt single to third base then put pressure on the Statesmen's defense by attempting to steal second. The throw from the catcher sailed into center field, allowing Williams to scoot the final 120 feet to tie the game.

Norman did her part in the sixth inning to work around a double and she stranded a leadoff single in the seventh. She finished with eight strikeouts in six innings of work in relief, tossing 65 of her 95 pitches for strikes to work ahead in most counts.

Roosevelt will take Saturday off before facing Concordia (Mich.) and William Penn on Sunday to close out its home tournament. The Lakers and Cardinals square off at 8 a.m. in Rosemont then Roosevelt seeks revenge against the Statesmen around 10:30 a.m.