Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MINNEOLA, FLA. — The University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (9-7) split a pair of nonconference games against Holy Family (0-10) and Lock Haven (7-7) on Friday as a part of their spring break trip to Florida. USF defeated Holy Family, 12-3 behind homeruns from Ashley Meyer and Emily Hove. USF fell to Lock Haven, 3-0 despite a strong pitching performance from starter Kerrigan Hoshaw. 

Game 1: Sioux Falls 12, Holy Family 3
In a game that feature standout pitching from Sydney Nieveen and an explosive offense, the Cougars won their third straight game with a 12-3 decision over Holy Family in the opener on Friday. Nieveen started for USF and moved to 2-1 on the season after throwing three scoreless and hitless innings in the blowout. She had three strikeouts and the ball never left the infield during her stellar outing on the mound.  

Freshman Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag finished for USF as she gave up three runs on three hits and struck out one in two innings of work.

Junior infielder Ashley Meyer led the Cougars at the plate by going two-for-three with a homerun, single, one run scored and four RBI. Hove added a homerun of her own in the second inning as she finished one-for-three on the day with a walk and two runs scored and an RBI. 

Freshman Lexie Swift recorded three hits in three plate appearances, including two singles and a double, scored twice and added in one RBI, while Nieveen went one-for-two with a hit-by-pitch and two runs scored. Sarah Keen added two hits on two plate appearances with an RBI double in the first inning. 

USF struck early in the contest as they jumped out to a, 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. All five runs came with two outs as Swift laced a two-out single into centerfield to spark the offense. Nieveen followed suit with a single of her own before Miller and Keen hit back to back doubles and Meyer cleared the bases with a two-run home run to deep center.

Hove solo home run in the second inning pushed USF lead to 6-0. 

USF broke the game open in the third inning when USF scored six runs on five hits and capitalized on one walk and one hit-by-pitch. Emmie Uitts started the inning off with a double to the left center field gap. Uitts then stole third and scored off a Kylan Straight single later in the inning. Hove drew a walk before Swift drove in Straight with an RBI single. Freshman Rachel Klassen posted an RBI single in the inning before Meyer hit a single that drove in two more runs before the inning ended. 

Holy Family scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to avoid the shutout.

Game two: Lock Haven 3, Sioux Falls 0
Hoshaw, a senior from Apple Valley, Minn., got the start for USF and pitched 5 1/3 solid innings and allowed three runs on four hits, while also striking out five batters in the contest. Hoshaw threw four scoreless innings before the Bald Eagles scored their first run in the bottom of the fifth and added two more in the sixth. Courtney Mathews came in as a relief pitcher to face two batters, both of which she promptly struck out in the home half of the second inning.

The USF offense was held in check by the Bekah Slattery (3-5), who earned the win for Lockport. USF was able to garner just four hits. Hove led USF on offense by going one-for-three with a double, while Nieveen, Lindsey Mossman and Francesca Mickelson each added a single during the game. This is the first time in the 2019 season that the efficient USF offense has been shutout.

The game remained scoreless through the top half of the fourth inning until Lock Haven produced the first run of the ballgame when Mikayla Ruppert lined a RBI single down the line to score Sara Gsell. Ruppert was tagged out at second base as she attempted to stretch her single into a double to end the inning. 

Two more Lock Haven runs came in the bottom of the sixth inning after Rachel Gricoski hit a two-run homerun over the right center field fence to give Lockport a 3-0 lead.

USF will play two more games as part of their spring break Florida trip as they face Pittsburg-Johnstown at 10:45 a.m., and New York Institute of Technology at 12:45 p.m.