Jacobs 6, Cary-Grove 0
The warm sunshine that smiled upon the Jacobs softball field Thursday afternoon was generous. So was Cary-Grove's defense.
Jacobs won the anticipated Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener 6-0, thanks to a strong pitching performance from freshman Kara Arceneaux, solid defense behind her and a 9-hit attack that capitalized on 4 errors by the visiting Trojans, who slipped to 8-3, 0-1.
Jacobs (7-2, 1-0) scored unearned runs in the first and second innings. In each instance a Cary-Grove infield error allowed a runner to reach base, Jacobs sacrificed that runner to second and scored her with a basehit.
Shortstop Lauren Arceneaux drove in the first-inning run against Cary-Grove pitcher Kristen Bauer (4-1) with an opposite-field single to right field on a 2-2 pitch.
Julie Escareno pulled the same trick in the second, when she lined a two-out basehit to center field for a 2-0 lead.
"Kristen pitched a great game, but starting out with those 2 errors kind of set a tone," Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson said. "It got us down early and I didn't feel like we were gaining our confidence like we have in past games. It's not that they lost it; They never really had it."
Meanwhile, Kara Arceneaux (3-0) retired the first nine Trojans in order, thanks to some help from Becky Wilson at first base. She stabbed a hard-hit liner off the bat of Julie Clemment for the second out of the third inning.
"I have a really good defense this year," Kara Arceneaux said. "Whenever I miss my spots and someone hits it, they're always covering me."
A Cary-Grove throwing error to open the third inning allowed Jacobs designated hitter Meghan Hough to reach base. Following Wilson's sacrifice bunt, Cassie Bencal hit a catchable ball down the right field line that instead fell for a run-scoring double and a 3-0 Jacobs lead.
It was at that point Bauer called her entire team into the circle for a little pep talk.
"I have a lot of confidence in my team," Bauer said after the game. "We've worked really hard and I know that we'll come back. We just had an off day."
Jacobs scored twice more in the inning on a single by freshman Jenna Teson and a run-scoring double by sophomore Sara Jacobson. Teson, the Golden Eagles' No. 9 hitter, finished 3-for-3 with 1 RBI and a run scored.
"We just had to keep our intensity up," Teson said of winning the division opener. "That's the main thing, just being up and cheering each other on."
Jacobs added another run in the fourth when Lauren Arceneaux was hit by a pitch and later scored on Hough's single to center.
Senior leadoff hitter Maggie O'Brien recorded the only 2 hits for Cary-Grove. She beat out a bunt to open the fourth and reached base in the fifth when a bad-hop handcuffed Lauren Arceneaux.
"Offensively, we were a little timid and were ready for (Kara Arceneaux) to come at us," O'Brien said. "But we play them two more times, so we'll be ready."