The fifth and final week of the Athletes Unlimited Softball Championship Season has arrived with much on the line. Also, the leaderboard looks tight at the top as four games remain in the season.
Games 25 and 26 saw great pitching efforts from a pair of talented stars with plenty of offensive support. Here is a recap of the first two games of Week Five.
Game 25: Bats Showed Up Late in 8 – 0 victory for Team Gibson over Team Flippen
Credit: Jade Hewitt – Athletes Unlimited
In this case, this was a matchup of two first-time captains: Danielle Gibson and Hannah Flippen. Team Gibson was led by Rachel Garcia. Without question, she was strong at the plate and in the circle.
Firstly, she tossed five shutout innings while allowing three hits and striking out seven. Following her first-inning strikeout of Tori Vidales, Garcia reached 50 strikeouts in an Athletes Unlimited Softball season for the second time. She’s the third pitcher to accomplish the feat, joining Cat Osterman and Aleshia Ocasio.
She really can do it all🤩@raaaccchhheeell | 📺:ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/449Mp3a8jw
— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 25, 2023
At the plate, Garcia slammed a three-run homer in the bottom of the first as part of a six-run inning for Gibby’s Goats. Additionally, Megan Wiggins had an RBI after a walk as Gibson scored two runs on a single. Wiggins and Sierra Romero delivered an RBI in the sixth inning to round out the offense for Team Gibson.
What’s more, this game was the sixth shutout of this season, the most in any season of Athletes Unlimited Softball.
Game 26: Team Denham Gets a Convincing 7-1 Win over Team Alexander
Credit: Jade Hewitt – Athletes Unlimited
Here, Odicci Alexander entered the week atop the leaderboard as she and her teams won a lot. The loss snapped her own 11-game win streak, including her six-game streak as a captain. However, Team Alexander encountered Alyssa Denham as she led her team with her powerful right arm.
Denham threw five innings, allowing a run on four hits with four strikeouts while notching her sixth win. That lone run for Team Alexander came from a Dejah Mulipola RBI single in the top of the fourth.
The offense for Denham’s team was led by Jordan Roberts. In this instance, all three RBIs came from a home run. Kelsey Stewart-Hunter added two RBIs of her own. In addition, Sam Fischer and Amanda Lorenz had one RBI each in the win. Fischer’s RBI was a solo homer to left center in the bottom of the second.
Jordan Roberts 🤝 3-run home run@jordanalyssar14 | 📺:ESPNU pic.twitter.com/U8J9dCgAcf
— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 26, 2023
Alexander holds just a 62-point lead over Gibson on the leaderboard after the doubleheader. Garcia moved up four spots, sitting in fourth.
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