Softball: Svedman, Jacobs blank Dundee-Crown

Pink crepe letters threaded in a backstop behind Jacobs' softball field declaring 'Strike Out Cancer' was one of many reminders that Friday's contest between the Golden Eagles and Dundee Crown was the seventh annual Pink Out Game.

Called strike threes did not impact the game.

Jacobs, despite striking out 8 times, blanked D-C 4-0 in Fox Valley Conference action.

The Golden Eagles made the most of Charger miscues and timely hitting to plate the runs.

Jacobs starting pitcher Savannah Svedman relied on her defense for a majority of her outs. The freshman right-hander struck out only 2 batters while walking 1 and giving up 3 singles..

"Savannah is fantastic. She has had to step into a role that she didn't expect to have," said Jacobs coach Katie O'Brien. "We had an injury to (pitcher) Katie Armstrong and our other pitcher has been out all season. Savannah had to step into a role as freshman that most freshmen don't expect - pitching every single day all the time."

D-C (13-11, 5-8) pitcher Sydney Ruggles got off to a good start, needing only 4 pitches to end Jacobs' first inning.

The Golden Eagles, after scoring an unearned run in the second, added two more in the third.

Ruggles started the inning giving up back-to-back singles to Grace O'Malley and Kerri Healy. After striking out the next two batters, the junior right-hander faced Emily Pena. The sophomore infielder drilled a 1-0 pitch to the left field for a double, scoring O'Malley and Healy.

"I really wasn't looking for a certain pitch," Pena said. "During my at-bat before that, I realized that she was throwing all inside to everyone. My thought process was she's probably going to throw it high and inside to me."

Jacobs (12-10-1, 7-8) threatened again in the fourth when Alexis Addante opened the frame with a double to the right field gap. She was stranded on the bases after Ruggles struck out the side.

A sacrifice fly in the fifth brought in Jacobs' final run.

"We made contact today but we hit a lot of balls up in the air. We need to be better about hitting some singles and putting some balls in some holes," said D-C coach Tracy Beatty. "We just didn't do that today. We committed some errors behind our pitcher and that didn't help us either."

Jacobs had a base runner in the sixth who ended up being the final out of the inning. With one out, and a runner on first, O'Malley flew out to D-C center fielder Cassie Randl, who made a beeline throw to first baseman Megan Emerson to double up the runner.

"Cassie had a great throw from center field to first base," Beatty said. "That was probably the highlight of the game."

Both teams wore pink shirts for the event that is a fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Jacobs players sported neon pink jerseys while D-C had dark pink ones.