Junior transfer Courtney Mosch stepped up when the softball team needed her the most – at the plate and in the circle.

Mosch shut down Stetson’s lineup in a 1-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Patricia Wilson Field.

Mosch improved her record to 6-2 with the shutout victory, scattering four hits in seven innings with six strikeouts and 80 pitches. Mosch also went 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI.

“She is a Greg Maddux type of pitcher, getting ahead in the counts and making batters do what you want them to do,” coach Ken Eriksen said. “She did a spectacular job for us, and we needed it.”

Mosch was efficient in her second start since recovering from a kidney infection that sidelined her for 10 days.

“I felt like I was in a zone, that I was throwing the ball hard and everything was clicking,” Mosch said. “Liz (Howell) and I were working well together, and we were on the same page the entire game.”

After struggling to score runs in the first game, USF (28-16) wasted little time grabbing the early lead in Game 2. In the top of the first inning, Kit Dunbar drew a two-out walk, Danielle Urbanik singled and Mosch singled up the middle to drive in Dunbar.

“We kept with the same mindset in the second game that we were going to get the breaks we needed to score some runs,” Mosch said.

In the first game, the Bulls couldn’t get a break at the plate, as every ball that was hit hard headed right to a Hatters fielder. USF had six line drives with runners in scoring position that were snagged for outs.

“It was one of those games that we could have played 99 innings and still come away with one run,” Eriksen said. “We hit some rocket shots in the first game that ended up in the leather. That’s just the way it was, and it was frustrating.”

The 2-1 loss in the first game took away from the solid effort of freshman starting pitcher Kristen Gordon. Gordon allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings.

In the bottom of the first, Gordon gave up a solo home run to Nicole Forbes. The Hatters added another run off Gordon on Andrea Migliori’s RBI double. However, Gordon was able to keep the Bulls in the game with seven strikeouts and two walks.

The Bulls let an opportunity to take the lead in the first game slip away in the top of the fifth inning. With runners at second and third with two outs, designated player JoJo Medina grounded out to the pitcher to end the Bulls’ rally.

“That was a great opportunity for us to take advantage of that scoring opportunity,” Eriksen said. “JoJo’s at-bat was a big at-bat for us, and us not being able to capitalize in that situation was a big one.”