PERFECTION ! Wolf allows nothing in 5-0 FMU win

FLORENCE, SC – Senior left-hander Michaela Wolf pitched the first seven-inning perfect game in the history of the Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournament as third-seeded Francis Marion University beat seventh-seeded USC Aiken 5-0 in a winner’s bracket game on Friday evening (April 17) at the Freedom Florence Recreational Complex.

Francis Marion (33-12) remains unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament and advances to face top-ranked and top-seeded North Georgia College & State University (43-0) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.  USCA (21-22) will face Lander University on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Wolf (19-6) needed only 62 pitches, 49 of which were strikes, to record the first perfect game by a Patriot hurler since Amy Birch in 2003.  Wolf combined with Serena Lim to throw a no-hitter against St. Andrews Presbyterian College on March 6, 2007.

Wolf struck out six USCA batters, and went to a three-ball count only once – in the fourth inning to Pacer shortstop Lauren Locklear.

The only other perfect game in PBC Tournament history was a 5-inning 8-0 win by Katya Eronina of Armstrong Atlantic State University over FMU on April 17, 2004.

The closest USCA came to getting a base runner came in the fifth frame when Blair Warren struck out on a ball in the dirt and FMU catcher Olivia Ferguson had to make a difficult throw around Warren, as she ran down the baseline, to first baseman Meghan Heiser.

FMU second baseman Ashley Jaramillo also made a good defensive play on a twisting grounder between first and second that she shoveled to Heiser.

Senior third baseman Kat Beauvais and Heiser both had two hits for the Patriots. Wolf was 1-for-2 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.

Shortstop Jessica Hogan gave FMU a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single to center field.  The margin doubled to 2-0 in the third on Wolf’s RBI single.

Jaramillo drove in the Patriots’ third run in the fifth with a grounder to short.  The final two Patriot tallies came in the sixth inning on a two-run single by Beauvais.

Righty Toni Flessate (13-10) took the loss for the Pacers as she allowed the five runs (four earned) on seven hits.

       Michaela Wolf