All things considered, the second series of the young AUSL season saw a sweep along with some dominance. Once again, the fans are making their presence known across the league and have yet to be disappointed. That being said, here is a recap of the action.
Oklahoma City Spark Vs. Chicago Bandits
In Game One of this series at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex, the Spark offense took control early versus the Bandits. Here, home runs by Bubba Nickles-Camarena (three-run), Sydney Sherrill (two-run), and Delanie Wisz (solo) led the way for Oklahoma City. Also, Sydney Romero added two RBIs for the Spark in the 9-1 route. For the Bandits, Mary Iakopo had the lone run for the Bandits with a solo homer.
Unlike Game One, Chicago’s bats were ready versus Oklahoma City in the second game. Here, Tianna Bell led the way for the Bandits with four RBIs via the long ball and a single.
More RBIs came from Sami Williams (two), Morgan Zerkle, Jocelyn Erickson, Jessica Clements, and Ailana Agbayani. The other run for Chicago came on Taryn Bell scoring on a passed ball, winning 11 – 3. Sherrill, Wisz, and Romero hit the RBIs for the Spark.
Game Three was all about the long ball in Rosemont. First, Wisz, and Jessi Warren hit solo homers I the top of the second inning for Oklahoma City. Clements blasted a home run for the Bandits as well as a RBI single by Agbayani in the bottom of the inning. Following an RBI double by Sherrill in the third, Maya Brady went deep in the fifth for the Spark.
Down 4 – 2 in the bottom of the seventh, Bell closed the gap for the Bandits with a solo shot to 4 – 3. In the end, Iakopo called game with a two-run homer as Chicago won 5 – 4.
Portland Cascade Vs. Utah Talons
Without question, Game One was low-scoring in Dumke Family Stadium in Salt Lake City. The Cascade got on the board first as Korbe Otis on a double play in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, the Talons tied the game on a Jayda Coleman RBI double.
Finally, Portland concluded the offense for the game with a two-run homer by Megan Grant in the third. Sam Landry went the distance in the 3-1 win for the Cascade. She allowed eight hits, a run, and struck out eight.
Similar to Game One, it was a low-scoring affair in Game Two. In this case, the offense didn’t get going until the top of the fifth by the Cascade on a two-run double by Otis. Sharlize Palacios got the Talons on the board in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double.
Once again, Portland wins close 2 – 1 over Utah as it was a pitcher’s duel between rookie Kenzie Brown and Montana Fouts. Brown allowed four hits, a run and sat down 10 batters in seven innings for Portland in the victory. Like Brown, Fouts went the distance, allowing three hits, two runs, and struck out four.
The Cascade were in search of a sweep against the defending AUSL champions on the road in the series finale. In the top of the first, Sydney Stewart hit an RBI single and Sierra Sacco-Ferrie added an RBI triple for Portland. Kailey Wyckoff hit a RBI single for Utah in the bottom of the inning to make it a 2 – 1 game.
Otis had a groundout RBI in the second for the Cascade as Rachel Becker hit an RBI for the Talons in the fourth. Ultimately, the Cascade would get the W by a 3 – 2 to secure the sweep of the Talons.
Texas Volts Vs. Carolina Blaze
Due to travel issues, this was a two-game series between the Volts and Blaze in Durham, North Carolina at Smith Family Stadium. Texas scored the first run of the series via an Aliyah Binford solo homer in the top of the first. Afterwards, that would be all the offense for the Volts in the game.
Soon after Dakota Kennedy‘s RBI single, Carolina slammed a pair of two-run homers by Alyssa Brito and Reese Atwood in inning number four. Kennedy hit a two-run home run in the fifth as Atwood went deep again in the sixth.
Devyn Netz hit an RBI in the sixth for the Blaze, giving them the 9 – 1 win. Pitcher Karlyn Pickens tossed six innings while allowing three hits, a run, and sat down five Texas batter for Carolina.
As for Game Two, it was as good as it gets for the fans in attendance. Kennedy gave Carolina an early lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Next, Texas took the lead in the top of the third on a Sierra Romero two-run homer. What’s more, the Volts added to their lead in the fourth on a Jordyn Rudd-Lee RBI single.
Photo Credit: AUSL
The bat of Ana Gold tied the game for Carolina with a two-run blast in the sixth. In the top of the eighth, Rylie Boone gave Texas the lead back on an RBI walk. A double by Netz in the bottom of the inning tied the game 4 – 4.
After Jaydyn Goodwin scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth for the Volts, the Blaze needed two runs to win it. Veteran Aleshia Ocasio stepped into the batter’s box, sending the crowd home happy with a walk-off two-run single to right center. Carolina notched the two-game sweep of Texas 6 – 5 in extra innings.
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