Tavidian Throws Second No-Hitter in As Many Games
ANGOLA, Ind. - The Alma College softball team (25-7, 13-1
MIAA) stopped Tri-State in back-to-back games Thursday evening,
defeating the Thunder 8-1 and 8-0 to remain at the top of the MIAA
standings heading into the final regular season series of the year
Saturday at Olivet. Melissa Tavidian (New Hudson/South Lyon) threw her second no-hitter in as many appearances, striking out 14.
Megan Colligan (Northville/Novi) singled to lead off the second inning as head coach Denny Griffin sent Angi Asam (Rogers City) in to pinch run. A Shannon Harrington (Dewitt/St. Johns) sacrifice bunt moved Asam to second while an Amy Gaudard (Mt. Pleasant) single moved Asam to third while Gaudard moved to second on the throw. Missy Morcom (Chelsea) stepped
in with an RBI single to score Asam and move Gaudard to third. With
second open, Morcom made a success of stealing second. Audra Reynolds (Six Lakes/Montabella)
followed suit with a single of her own to score Gaudard. The junior
moved to second on a passed ball and Morcom went to third on the play.
A long single by Mary Pietsch (Rogers City) allowed both
Reynolds and Morcom to score to give the Scots a four-run lead in the
second inning with just one out. The Maroon and Cream went down in
succession after that as Anne Westerman (Gaylord/St. Mary Cathedral) flied out to right field and Megan Knochel (Pinconning) ground out to third base to end the inning with a commanding lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, senior pitcher Leigh Ann LaFave (Bark River/Escanaba)
had something happen that she hadn't witnessed in over a year as
Tri-State put up a run against the senior ace. LaFave threw 56.2
consecutive scoreless innings in MIAA games before breaking the streak
Thursday. She threw 53.1 consecutive scoreless innings this season
which ranks sixth all-time in NCAA Division III history and is the most
consecutive scoreless innings since 2003.
To lead off the fifth inning, Laura Bell (Walled Lake/Walled Lake Western) doubled and Andrea Lunsted (Haslett) took
the bag to run for the junior. Colligan was issued a walk and
Harrington singled to load the bases. Gaudard hit a line drive to the
shortstop for the innings first out and Morcom followed with an infield
ground out. An error by Tri-State's third baseman allowed Reynolds on
first and allowed Harrington, Colligan and Lunsted to score (all
unearned) to give the Scots a 7-1 advantage.
The Scots added a final run in the sixth inning to make the score 8-1 in their favor.
In game two, Melissa Tavidian (New Hudson/South Lyon) shut
out
the Thunder, 8-0, for her second consecutive no-hitter. She opened the
game with a walk to Tri-State's leadoff hitter and another walk in the
fifth inning were all keeping her from a perfect game. The senior
struck out 14 batters en route to the impressive feat. It is the fourth
no-hitter of Tavidian's four-year career with the Scots.
The Scots spread the scoring throughout the game, dropping three runs
in the first, one in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the
sixth to bring the eight run mercy rule into effect.
Alma returns to action Saturday (Apr. 30) at Olivet to close out the regular season before MIAA post-season play begins.
Posted: Thu, April 28th, 2005 at 9:28PM
