Carson sweeps Wooster behind Ashbaugh's no-hitter

RENO - Carson used a no-hitter by Lou Ashbaugh and a five-hitter by Christina Gallegos to sweep Wooster, 10-0 and 3-1, Wednesday afternoon in a Sierra League softball doubleheader.

The Senators now have a three-game win streak headed into today's crossover game against perennial powerhouse Reed. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.

"I'm glad we walked away with a couple of wins," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said. "We needed momentum going into three tough games (Reed and Bishop Manogue). We got some good pitching from Lou and Christina. We were pretty clean defensively."

Ashbaugh was solid in the opener, striking out three and walking three in her five-inning no-hitter, the second of her high school career.

"Everything was working," Ashbaugh said. "I didn't know I had a no-hitter until Craig (Kiser, assistant coach) told me."

Ashbaugh had plenty of run support, as Carson scored in four of its five innings, including three-run outbursts in the second, third and fifth.

Carson manufactured a run in the first when Emily Collins singled and eventually scored thanks to an Ashbaugh sacrifice bunt and a Wooster miscue.

Carson made it 4-0 in the second thanks to an error which allowed Lauren Knorzer to reach base, two walks, a single by freshman Jen Purcell, who went 5-for-6 in the doubleheader.

"She has been on fire," Vickrey said. "She goes 3-for-3 in the second game and had a couple of RBIs in the first game."

The winners added three more in the third when Ashbaugh singled and moved to second when Moriah Lane walked. Christa McGahuey followed with a two-run double to make it 6-0. McGahuey moved to third when Knorzer singled and scored on Purcell's fielder's choice.

After a scoreless fourth, Carson scored three more runs in the top of the fifth. Purcell drove in her second run of the game with a single, and seldom-used Hannah Winder slammed a two-run double to make it 10-0.

Carson's offense had a much tougher time against Rachel Howell, the Colts' starter in the second game. She scattered six hits, but it wasn't quite enough to get the nod over Gallegos, who bounced back from a loss against Galena on Monday.

Gallegos had to work out of a jam in the fifth inning. She had great command of her off-speed stuff, which kept Wooster hitters off balance.

"I threw a lot of junk," Gallegos said. "My knuckleball was working pretty good. I think I threw 75 to 80 percent off-speed stuff."

The game was scoreless until the fourth when Carson pushed across a couple of runs.

Lane walked and advanced to third on Knorzer's single. Lane ended up scoring on the play when Wooster tried to nail Knorzer at second but the throw sailed into the outfield. Purcell followed with the second of her three hits, scoring Knorzer. Lisa Yamamoto followed with a sacrifice bunt, but Purcell was thrown out trying to take an extra base for the final out of the inning.

Wooster cut Carson's lead to 2-1 in the fifth when Shaliah Jones singled, moved to second on a passed ball and to third on Howell's infield out.

Karynn Salculdito followed with a hard groundball to Lane at second base. Lane threw a shot to the plate, and K.C. Withrow blocked the plate and tagged out the sliding Jones for the second out.

Gallegos hit the next two hitters to load the bases, and Katelynn Heywood followed with a bloop to right, which scored Salculdito. Stephanie Keith tried to score, but McGahuey threw out the Wooster runner trying to score from second.

"Those were two big plays," Vickrey said. "Good throws by Moriah and Christa, and K.C. did a good job blocking off the plate (once she had the ball)."

Lane reached base on an error to open the sixth and came around to score on Morgan Kleine's infield slap between third and short for Carson's final run.

Wooster got a runner to second in the seventh, but Gallegos got the final out on a comebacker.