The University of Dayton softball team ended its fall season on a good note by sweeping the competition in the UD Fall Softball Classic on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the UD Softball Stadium.
The Flyers played two games on Saturday. In the first, UD beat Urbana University 2-1 thanks in part to junior pitcher Alysha Isaacson and sophomore pitcher Kayla English’s combined 11 strikeouts. In the second game, the Flyers won 4-1 against Otterbein University, courtesy of freshman pitcher Emily Froment and senior pitcher Sydney Cicchetti’s combined 10 strikeouts.
UD freshman infielder Paige Rhodes batted 3-for-4 and senior outfielder Kathleen Maloof went 4-for-7 and hit one RBI in the two games.
Redshirt sophomore infielder Jordan Jennings hit a two-run home run, and sophomore outfielder Natalie Mariano and junior infielder Jenna Lopes both drove in one run.
The Flyers played six exhibition games during the fall schedule.
The team won four out of the six games it played against other universities. In addition to its victories over Urbana and Otterbein, Dayton defeated Miami University 4-2 and Northern Kentucky University 7-6 at UD Softball Stadium on Sept. 15.
UD’s pair of losses came in Columbus, Ohio, during the 2012 Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic on Sept. 29 against Ohio State University and the University of Akron.
“We’re really happy with our fall season,” said head coach Cara LaPlaca. “We want to see our freshmen learn on how they adjusted during the season and [have] retuning leadership guide them.”
The fall season had been an unforgettable bonding experience for the softball team, according to Maloof.
“Now that the fall season is over, the team has definitely gotten more comfortable playing with one another,” said Maloof. “Having chemistry and camaraderie are things teams have to work for, especially teams like us when we have eight new girls on the team. This fall, we also really worked on the basics and focused on coming together as a team.”
Now that the fall season is over, LaPlaca said the players can settle into their respective positions.
According to LaPlaca, over the course of time before the spring season gets under way, the players will practice their individual roles of the team.
The Flyers will head into the winter after having intrasquad scrimmages during Family Weekend at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20.
