Emily Jeffrey hurled the 11th no-hitter in program history as Charlotte ripped past St. Bonaventure 8-0 in game one of a Saturday double dip; Charlotte completed the sweep in the second game, winning 9-1 to move to 21-6 on the year.
Leading the way at the plate for Charlotte was senior outfielder Serena Smith. The Mooresville N.C. native went 5-for-6 combined in the two games, knocking in six runs and recording three extra-base hits.
The Bonnies never had a chance in game one, as Charlotte exploded out of the gate with five runs in the opening frame. With Whitney Williams and Kendra McCall on base, Smith came to the plate and blasted her third home run of the season over the right field retaining wall to give the Niners a 3-0 lead. Charlotte extended it’s lead by two more runs on an error by the Bonnies’ Stephanie Narde and a sacrifice fly by Natalyn Blanton.
After the Bonnies failed to produce any runs in the top half of the second, Charlotte heaped on three more runs to push the lead to 8-0. Smith scored McCall again with her second extra-base hit in as many innings with a triple and Tenaya Tucker scored herself and Smith with a dinger over the left field wall, making the score 8-0. Smith and Tucker are now tied for second on the team with three round-trippers each.
With an eight-run buffer, Jeffrey easily put away the rest of the Bonnies for her second career no-hitter. Jeffrey added 12 Bonnies to her season strike-out total and was only three base runners away from a perfect game. The senior ace improved her season record to 12-4 and moved to within three strikeouts of the program record (584), held by Kristen Bowen. Jeffrey’s 141 strikeouts this season are good for the seventh-best in program allure. Jeffrey recorded Charlotte’s last no-hitter in her first career start, an 11-0 victory against Presbyterian on Feb. 9 2008.
Charlotte ended game two early as well as the Niners once again used a huge inning to break open a close game. The 49ers scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to make what was once a one-run game out of reach.
Lorena Vela and Keri Palma both batted in runs in the second to get the Niners on the board early. Vela’s single drove in Carol Buchan from third base, while Palma’s double to center field drove in Vela. With just a one-run lead, Charlotte hurler Katy Hackett was impeccable, allowing only three hits from the fourth to sixth inning and stranding four base runners.
Charlotte scored seven runs on seven hits in the sixth to induce the run-rule and give the Niners a 9-1 win. Smith came to the plate and drove in the final two runs of the game with a single and a triple. Charlotte returns to conference action next Saturday with a double-dip against Dayton beginning at noon.
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