Gisela Boitmann allowed just two hits and struck out four while taking a shutout into the seventh and final inning to lead the Lovejoy Leopards to an 8-1 upset win over Class 5A #1 Melissa on Thursday in District 13-5A play.
Lovejoy improves to 13-10-1 overall and 6-1 in district play. The Leopards have won six straight games after losing 8-1 to Melissa in Round 1 on March 5th. The Cardinals, who were also ranked 10th nationally, snapped their eight game winning streak and dropped to 6-1 and 23-2-1.
Melissa looks to bounce back vs Greenville on April 5th.
Lovejoy looks to keep it going vs Greenville on April 2nd.
After both teams went scoreless in the first two innings, Lovejoy scored four runs in the bottom of the third and four more in the bottom of the fourth. Boitmann hit a lead off single and a Melissa error put two runners on base. Kamryn Messick singled in a run followed by Skylar Rucker’s two-run triple to left field. Sammerra Saluja drove in a run with a one out sac fly to make it 4-0.
Tatum Vitek hit a two out single in the fourth for Lovejoy. Messick and Rucker both got hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded for Izzy Guarriello, who took a 1-0 pitch to deep center for a grand slam and 8-0 lead. Melissa starting pitcher Alex Starr (Michigan State commit) went 3 2/3 innings before the Cardinals made the switch for freshman Eloisa Maes – then Guarriello hit the grand slam.
Melissa avoided the shutout in the top of the seventh.
Lulu Adrian hit a liner to right to lead off the inning. Two batters later and Shug Bradford reached on an error and Adrian advanced to third. She scored on a sac fly from Rihanna Wheeler to make it 8-1. Boitmann induced a pop fly to center for the final out. Boitmann faced 25 batters and got 21 outs. She allowed two hits and one walk with the Lovejoy error in the last frame. She threw 88 pitches with 62 strikes.
