Voris Strikes Out 10 in Two-Hit Shutout Against Denison
BOX SCORE
Greencastle, Ind., May 14, 2010 – Junior pitcher Claire Voris tossed a two-hit shutout and struck out 10 as the third-seeded Washington University in St. Louis softball team avoided elimination in the 2010 NCAA Division III Central Regional with a 5-0 victory over No. 7 seed Denison University on Friday afternoon in Greencastle, Ind.
"From the very first hitter, Claire set the tone on the mound. Her ball was moving all day long," said fifth-year head coach Leticia Pineda-Boutté.
Washington University (35-10) plays in another elimination game on Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m. (ET), against North Central College. Denison, who was making its fifth NCAA appearance, ends the season with a 30-17 record.
Washington U. jumped ahead 1-0 for the second-straight game with an unearned run in its first at-bat. Senior Megan Fieser led off the game by reaching on an error by Denison second baseman Lauren Lynn, and then advanced to second on a sacrifice by freshman Ashley Janssen. Sophomore Corissa Santos then singled to left field with one out to give WUSTL the 1-0 lead.
Voris cruised through the first four innings of play without allowing a hit and striking out five. The Bears batted around in the fifth inning and put the game out of reach with four runs.
A two RBI double by senior Ashton Hitchcock scored Voris and Santos to push the advantage to 3-0, and then Fieser and Janssen recorded back-to-back singles to make it 5-0. Washington U. sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth inning.
"It was nice to score in the first inning, but nice that we came back and scored more," added Boutté. "I tell the girls all the time that hitting is contagious. It was nice to see us string hits together like that in the fifth inning."
Voris’ no-hitter was broke up in the bottom of the fifth with no outs by Alex Murray. After the hit by Murray, she retired the final nine batters with five strikeouts. Voris also picked up the 600th strikeout of her career against the Big Red.
Fieser finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI, and is now 6-for-9 in the two NCAA Tournament games. Santos and senior Carter Malouf added two hits apiece as Washington U. pounded out 10 hits.
Bear Notebook: The 35 wins is the third most in school history in a single season … Washington U. is now 19-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament play … Fieser’s three hits moved her past Jamie Kressel (2004-07) into sixth on the all-time WUSTL list … Voris picked up the 20th shutout of her career, second most in school history.