Senior right hander Chelsea Botsch continued her dominance in the circle on Tuesday, tossing her first career no-hitter in leading the Wilmington University softball team to another Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader shutout, defeating USciences 8-0 and 7-0 at McNeil Field on Tuesday.
With the sweep and the five and seven-inning shutouts, the Wildcats (22-11, 13-5 CACC) extend their shutout streak to 56.2 consecutive innings. The wins also extend the Wildcats' winning streak to 10-straight, allowing them to jump into third place in the CACC standings.
The offense gave all support Botsch needed in the top of the first inning of game one as Cambria Ziemba tripled to right field to start the rally. Now with runners on first and third, the Wildcats executed a double-steal as Danielle Bradley took second and Ziemba stole home for the early 1-0 lead.
Botsch began her afternoon with a 1-2-3 inning in the first and picked up the first two outs of the second inning. The Devils' (7-21, 5-11 CACC) Maria Serrantino worked a full count walk, fouling off two pitches before ball four. The walk would come back to haunt Botsch.
Botsch picked up a pair of strikeouts in the third before setting the Devil down in order again in the fourth, inducing a pair of fly balls.
The Wildcats opened the lead in the fifth picking up seven runs on seven hits in the inning. With runners on second and third, Bradley homered down the left field line for her first collegiate blast of her career. Miranda Pedersen started the inning again with a single, scoring on an RBI single by Michelle Panasiti. With the bases loaded and the Wildcats batting around, Kelsey Doherty cleared the bases with a double, putting the eight-run rule into effect.
Botsch took the first batter of the bottom of the fifth to a full count but struck out her sixth batter of the game for the first out. The senior induced a pop up for the second out before getting a foul out to Panasiti at the plate for the final out of the game and the no-hitter.
Not to be outdone in the nightcap, Brooke Lachette continued her shutout streak as well, striking out five batters while only allowing four hits and a walk in the complete game shutout.
The Wildcats again got on the board early, getting a run in the first as Doherty led off the game with a double. The Devils picked up their first hit of the day in the bottom of the first but Lachette induced a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Lachette put the Devils down in order in the second and third innings before working around a leadoff single in the fourth, stranding the runner on third by inducing a ground ball out to second.
The Wildcats added two runs in the fifth, starting a rally with two outs and no one on. Keara McCarthy worked a 10-pitch walk before Becca Stanley launched her third home run of the year to center field, giving the Wildcats the 3-0 lead.
Lachette again put the Devils down in order in the fifth allowing the offense to get back to the plate quickly for the sixth. Pedersen doubled in a pair of runners before Ashley Bennett launched her second home run of the year to right field, bringing in Pedersen for the 7-0 lead.
The Devils best chance came in the sixth as they picked up a pair of two-out singles to put runners on first and second. But Lachette induced another grounder to get out of the inning and escape the jam. Lachette finished off the shutout with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, picking up two more strikeouts before a popup ended the game, 7-0.
Doherty and Ziemba picked up three hits on the day while Doherty and Bradley led the team with three RBI on the day which all came in game one. Botsch improved to 10-5 on the year while Lachette improved to 9-4 overall.
The Wildcats put their shutout streak on the line again on Thursday as they head outside the CACC for a doubleheader at NE-10 foe Adelphi. The first pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2:30 p.m. in Garden City, N.Y.