BOX SCORE (Game One) l BOX SCORE (Game Two)
MIAMI, Fla. (April 17, 2021) – The Florida National (19-12) continued to be on fire on the diamond, sweeping the St. Thomas Bobcats (11-17) in a Saturday doubleheader from Miami Christian School. The Conquistadors defeated the Bobcats, 6-0, in Game One and came back to defeat STU in the second contest, 6-5.
The wins were the 14th and 15th in the team’s last 18 games.
In Game One, senior left-hander Natasha Trujillo held the Bobcats to just one hit, throwing a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The native of Whittier, California, struck out 10 in a complete-game shutout of STU en route to her seventh win of the season. Despite opening the game with a hit batter on the first pitch, Trujillo retired 13-straight Bobcats before, walking Rachael Samaniego in the top of the fifth.
St. Thomas got its only hit of the game on a swinging bunt by Nicole Hauck to lead off the sixth.
Three Conquistadors drove in five of the six runs as Makayla Peralta, Megen Johnson, and Gabryella Hay produced extra-base hits in the contest. Peralta drove in three runs in the bottom of the second on a bases-clearing triple. Johnson cracked a solo shot in the bottom of the third and Hay crushed a homer over the right-field fence in the bottom of the fifth.
The Conquistadors needed a Game Two comeback in walk-off fashion to complete the sweep of the Bobcats and Hay came up big for FNU. With the go-ahead run on second in the bottom of the seventh, the product of Little River Academy, Texas, double to left-center, scoring the game-winning run as Peralta crossed home plate.
Game Two began with FNU getting on the board in the bottom of the first on an RBI-ground out by Gabriela De Oliveira. However, STU drove in four runs in the top of the second to take a 4-1 lead.
The Bobcats held the Conquistador offense in check through the first four innings, adding their fifth run of the contest in the top of the fourth. It was a two-run bottom of the fifth that got FNU back in the contest, as with the bases loaded Hay drove in one run and another scored as shortstop Nini Underwood got caught in a rundown between second and third base.
FNU tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI-double by Oliveira and an RBI-single by Lia Damiani. With the game knotted at 5-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh, FNU used a lead-off double by Peralta to get the go-ahead run into scoring position. Two batters later, Hay drove a shot to left-center to end the game.
Hay, the hero at the plate, also picked up the victory (5-3), coming out of the pen to toss six innings while allowing two runs on four hits.
The Conquistadors will remain home and host the Southeastern Fire in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 20. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
