March 4, 2005

Winthrop Stats
Mercer Stats

Marietta, Ga. - The Saint Louis Billiken softball team earned a split of two games in the first day of action at Georgia Tech's Buzz Classic. The Billikens lost to Winthrop 1-0 but bounced back to beat Mercer 4-3 in eight innings.

Winthrop's Kelli Johnson threw a no-hitter as the Eagles clawed out a 1-0 win. Kjersti Johnson scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Billikens had excellent scoring chances in both the second and third innings. SLU had runners reach third base with only one out in both frames, but they could not push across a run. Ashley Levan notched seven strikeouts for the Bills, but was handed the loss.

Against Mercer, the Bears scored in the top of the first, but Jenna Renner had the answer for the Billikens in the bottom half of the frame. With two on, she cranked out a three-run home run to stake the Billikens to a 3-1 lead. Mercer registered solo homers in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game and force extra frames. In the bottom of the eighth, Katie Hoffarth scored on Kara Sell's RBI single to hand the Billikens a dramatic win. Lorena Floccari threw a complete game and finished with eight strikeouts to pick up the win.