Senior pitcher Erin Martin (, ) set down all 15 batters she faced and the offense pounded out ten hits in the first three innings to cruise to a 12-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene Friday afternoon in softball action at Halle Field.
Martin struck out the side in the third inning to account for all her strikeouts in the game as she improved her record to 9-0 with the perfect game. It was the second no-hitter of Martin’s career, as she previously no-hit ’s in a six-inning game on April 5, 2006.
As has been the case most of the season, the offense started quickly, as Katie Petersen (, ) walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Sandra Hernandez (). Hernandez would score on Lauren Berin’s (Lacey, ) double to make the score 2-0 after the top of the first inning.
In the second inning, Hernandez earned another RBI on a single that plated Cassie Cueto (). After Berin singled, Kaha Weir () laced a base hit to left center field that scored both Hernandez and Berin to give SeattleU a 5-0 advantage.
The Redhawks broke the game open with seven runs in the third inning. After a Cueto walk, Lauren Carlson (, ) doubled to drive Cueto in and scored on a throwing error off a bunt by Katie Antich (). Weir earned two more runs batted in with another single, with the final three SeattleU runs scoring on a fielding error and a wild pitch.
The 3-4-5 hitters, Hernandez, Berin, and Weir, combined to go 7-of-10 with five runs scored and seven runs batted in. Thanks to the performances of those three plus Carlson, several SeattleU starters were able to rest in preparation for back-to-back GNAC doubleheaders over the weekend.
(16-1) faces Northwest Nazarene in a conference doubleheader Saturday, March 15, beginning at 11 a.m. local time.