Antoinette Hill earns her first career save to shut down the Shockers offense
GREENVILLE, N.C., May 13, 2022 – The War On I-4 will have another postseason edition, this time with a title on the line. The University of South Florida softball team (44-13) advanced to the American Athletic Conference Championship game with a 5-4 win over one of the top offenses in the country in the Wichita State Shockers (33-16).
The Bulls hit more home runs than the Shockers, who rank second in the country with 2.44 home runs per game. Dezarae Maldonado (Winter Haven, Fla.), Josie Foreman (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Meghan Sheehan all hit homers in the game to help push the Bulls past the second seed.
The Bulls capitalized on opportunities early. Alexis Johns (Sarasota, Fla.) led off the game with a triple then Sheehan drove her home with a ground out.
The Shockers tied the game in the bottom of the first by stringing together a few hits, but USF retook the lead in the third. Maldonado hit her second home run in as many days, then Johns scored her second run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Alanah Rivera (St. Petersburg, Fla.) to give the Bulls a 3-1 edge.
Foreman tacked on a solo home run in the fourth, followed by Sheehan’s home run in the fifth to push the lead to four. Wichita State got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Georgina Corrick (Sanford, Fla.) only allowed the one run as she worked out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Shockers closed the gap further in the sixth with a two-run homer that cut USF’s lead to 5-4, but Antoinette Hill (Braidwood, Ill.) shut down the Shockers offense with 1.2 scoreless innings, earning her first career save.
Notables
- Johns stole her 58th base in the game. She’s tied for the 19th most in NCAA Division I history and can move up to 15th with one more stolen base.
- Sheehan’s fifth-inning home run was the first of her career.
- Sheehan tallied her ninth multi-RBI game of the season.
- Johns tallied her 14th multi-hit game of the season.
- Eriksen has won 1,050 games in his head coaching career.
- Johns has reached base in 10 consecutive games.
- The win gives USF its third trip to the AAC Championship since the league’s inception for the 2014 season.
- The Bulls have won eight straight games.
Up Next
The Bulls battle Central Florida in the AAC Championship game tomorrow at 9 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
About USF Softball
Be sure to follow USF softball on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. The USF softball program has been one of the most successful on campus, making 16 NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Women’s College World Series in 2012.
– #GoBulls –
