Charge rebound against Bandits for 9-2 victory
After being shut out by Monica Abbott's perfect game during Thursday's matinee, the Charge scored 4 runs in the first 2 innings to knock out Bandits starter Michelle Gascoigne after 1.1 innings pitched.
Renada Davis led off the first for the Charge with a double to left and would come around to give Dallas a 1-0 lead. Eri Yamada advanced Davis to third with a sacrifice bunt and Lauren Haeger batted her in with a single to center. Gascoigne then fanned Nadia Taylor and received a web gem diving catch by first baseman Megan Blank for the third out.
Dallas leftfielder Mikey Kenney hit a 3-run shot to left to increase the Charge lead to 4-0 in the second and bring on Lacey Waldrop in relief for Gascoigne. Taylor Thom led off the inning with a triple to deep center and Gascoigne walked Brianna Cherry to put runners on the corners for Kenney.
Kazuki Watanabe singled to third to score Cherry in the third inning to put the Charge up 5-0.
Haeger started in the circle for Dallas. She allowed three hits throughout the first five innings before giving up four in the last two innings in her complete game win.
"I think that we hit the ball hard in a lot of situations and just didn't find holes," Bandits third baseman Amber Patton (2 for 4, 2B) said. "We hit her hard tonight. It just wasn't our night for that."
Yamada hit a sacrifice fly to center in the sixth to add an insurance run and make the score 6-0.
The Bandits scraped across 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-2. Vicky Galasso and Danielle Zymkowitz hit back-to-back singles to start the 2 out rally. Kailee Cuico hit an infield popup that was dropped by Charge catcher, Watanabe, to score Galasso. Taylor Edwards then lined a double to left as a pinch hitter for Brenna Moss to score Zymkowitz.
"It's all about momentum at that point and giving ourselves a chance to get a tying run to the plate," Patton said of the sixth inning offense. "Scoring those two runs is huge just for momentum reasons."
Dallas earned back both runs in the top of the seventh after Cherry and Kenney hit back-to-back singles. Both came around to score on a Renada Davis double to left. Yamada hit a single to left to score Davis and finalize the Charge victory at 9-2. Sara Moulton came on for the Bandits to close out the game.
Chicago looks to win this home series against Dallas tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
"A lot of things didn't go our way but you have to take the positives from that game, how we fought and how we competed," Patton said. "We are still definitely in a good situation to win this series tomorrow. We will take the good things in this game and go get them tomorrow."