Denis Powers Brakettes over St. Louis Saints

August 7, 2012 - Denise Denis drove in all three runs in the Brakettes' 3-1 win over the St. Louis Saints in the late game of a doubleheader, Tuesday night at DeLuca Field. Denis belted a game-tying RBI double in the first inning and a go-ahead two-run homer in the third. Stratford also won the first game 8-0 in five innings.

Brandice Balschmiter earned the win in the nightcap, as she improved her record to 32-2 on the season. She struck out 13 batters, while scattering six singles.

Former Iowa standout pitcher Amanda Zust went the distance for the Saints and struck out seven Brakettes. Zust took the tough-luck loss, despite holding the Brakettes to a season-low three hits.

Saints left-fielder Rachael West reached on an infield single in the first and raced to third on a two-out base hit to right by Amanda Clack.

Clack forced the action and took off for second, and Mariel Schlaefer's throw to a vacant second base sailed into center. The errant toss allowed West to score the game's first run.

The Brakettes came right back in the bottom of the first, as Heronema led off with a walk. Ashley Waters sacrificed Heronema over to second, bringing Denis to the plate with one out.

Denis crushed a double to left-center, which one-hopped to the fence. The two-base hit scored Heronema from second, tying the game up at 1-1.

Balschmiter survived a scare in the third inning, as she was nailed in the leg by a line drive off the bat of Dani Brinkman. The comebacker caromed off Balschmiter, who fell to the ground in pain.

Brinkman ended up with an infield single on the play, as Waters rushed to retrieve the ball with Balschmiter still on the ground. Brandice eventually took some warmup tosses to test out the injury, and was able to stay in the game after a short delay.

The Saints had the bases loaded with two outs, but Balschmiter got Brittney Fisher to ground out to second base on the first pitch after the delay, ending the threat.

The Brakettes took the lead in the bottom of the third, after Waters reached on a walk with one out.

Denis followed and blasted her tenth homer of the year to dead center, putting the Brakettes up for good, 3-1. The two-run shot gave Denis double-digit homers for the fourth straight year, making her the first Brakette ever to attain that milestone.

Schlaefer made up for the early error by picking off Ashley Hall at second base in the top of the fourth, cutting short a potential St. Louis rally.

Hall led off the inning with a single and went to second on a walk by Lindsey Benck. Hall strayed too far from the bag after a Balschmiter delivery, and Schlaefer gunned her down at second before she could return to the base.

Balschmiter worked out of another bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning, as she struck out Clack to end the game.

The Brakettes took their tenth straight victory, despite being outhit by St. Louis 6-3. Chelsea Carmody had a pair of hits for the Saints.

The Brakettes captured the first game of the doubleheader in run rule-shortened fashion, sprinting to an 8-0 win in five frames. Stratford raced to a 6-0 lead after the first inning, and the Saints would never recover.

The Brakettes got to Saints starter Meg Soultz early, after Heronema led off the home first with a single up the middle. Waters reached on a bunt single to put two on with no outs, leaving Denis to drop down a bunt of her own.

The sacrifice attempt by Denis was mishandled by Soultz, leaving the Brakettes with the bases loaded and no outs. Soultz would strike out Stephanie Call swinging, but could not get out of the jam unscathed.

With one out, Mandie Fishback delivered a two-run single to plate Heronema and Waters for a 2-0 lead. Denis came home on a grounder to the right side by Carden, and Fishback scored on a throwing error to stretch the margin to 4-0.

Jess Mouse reached on a single with two outs to extend the inning. Kate Bowen came up next and cranked her second homer of the season over the fence in right, extending the lead to 6-0.

After the rough first inning, Soultz settled in and kept the Brakettes in check until the sixth.

Amber Radomski was hit by a pitch to start the frame, but was forced out at second base. Heronema reached on a fielder's choice on the play. Waters then roped her 12th homer to left-center, second-most on the team, bringing the score to 8-0.

Fico worked a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game, improving to 18-1 on the season. Fico allowed just two runners to reach second base in the three-hit shutout.

The Saints have Wednesday off, before starting pool play Thursday in the 2012 WMS Championship at DeLuca Field. St. Louis is expected to be one of the front-runners to capture the title, after back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011.

The Brakettes will be right back at it on Wednesday night, as they play host to the Connecticut Charmers at DeLuca Field in a 6:30 doubleheader.

Both games will be video webcast at brakettes.com.