Long Island 1, USF 0

Heavy thunderstorms cancelled Saturday’s softball game against Long Island University. Rain, however, didn’t keep South Florida from winning three out of four games over the weekend.

The Bulls swept Canisius 2-1 and 3-0 at a neutral field in Deland and split games against LIU 1-0 at the USF Softball Complex.

The Bulls’ pitching staff won the battle on the mound, shutting out the opponent in 29 innings.

USF assistant coach Amber Wright believes the Bulls can compete against the?any team?in the country.

“Our (pitching staff) is proving to be a lethal combo against any opponent we face. They’re good enough to compete against the best teams in the country and they’re showing that game after game,” Wright said.

Freshman pitcher Capri Catalano (7-0) pitched a shutout game against Canisius and is on pace to break all-time school freshman records.

Catalano leads the Bulls with a 0.77 earned run average, and is two saves away from tying with teammates junior Cristi Ecks and sophomore Kristen Gordon for the most saves in season by a freshman.

“Capri doesn’t throw like a freshman. The combination of her movement and her velocity has proven that she’s unhittable. Any pressure situation, she’s been able to handle the pressure and still perform,” Wright said.?

It wasn’t until the eighth inning of game one against LIU that senior pitcher Courtney Mosch gave up a run that gave the Blackbirds their 10th win of the season.

Ecks also had a breakout game against Canisius in game one, striking out 11 of 22 hitters and picking up her fourth win of the season.

Hits also went the Bulls’ way, as five different hitters were credited with runs batted in for three games.

Big East Player of the Week JoJo Medina had two singles, a double and a run batted in through the weekend.

“JoJo is one of the most gifted hitters I’ve ever been associated with. She’s powerful, her hands are fast and she’s very confident. There’s not a pitcher that she thinks is better than her,” Wright said.

The Bulls have played 15 games in 12 days and will get a six-day rest to prepare for conference rival St. John’s University.

“We’ve been getting great pitching, great defense, and our offense has been average. The focus of these next practices will be to increase our offense, our focus as hitters,?and hopefully bring some more hits and runs into this coming weekend,” Wright said.