Bandits Take Game 3 After a Shutout by Gascoigne

Danielle Lawrie suffered her first loss of the season Saturday night

ROSEMONT, Ill.–August 2, 2014–After suffering a shutout loss to Cat Osterman on Friday night, the Chicago Bandits and Michelle Gascoigne shutout the Pride 4-0 at The Ballpark of Rosemont. Gascoigne held the USSSA Florida Pride offense to five hits on the day, all singles. A total of 1723 were on-hand to witness game three between the Pride and Bandits.

Amber Patton opened up the hitting with a double to start the second, bringing Brittany Cervantes to the plate who blasted her ninth homerun of the season over the center field wall to give the Bandits an early 2-0 lead. With the homerun, Cervantes takes sole possession of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) homerun lead.

Neither team was able to muster much offense until the sixth inning when the Pride strung together three straight hits by Natasha Watley, Caitlin Lowe and Madison Shipman. Watley attempted to score from second off Shipman’s single but was called out at home after a rocket of a throw by Bandits left fielder, Emily Allard. A walk and a strikeout would end the inning for the Pride as the Bandit came to bat still up by two.

The Bandits bats came out hot in the bottom of the inning as Megan Wiggins, Allard and Tammy Williams all singled to load the bases. With Amber Patton at the plate, her single to the Pride shortstop plated two Bandits base runners, giving Chicago the four run lead heading to the bottom of the inning.

Danielle Lawrie suffered the loss, her first of the season, allowing four Bandits runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Gascoigne picked up her fifth win of the season allowing just five Pride hits while recording four strikeouts in seven innings.

Both teams return to action tomorrow, Sunday, August 3 for the series finale at 3:05 p.m. Following the game at 3:05 p.m., the teams will play at 6 p.m. to make up for the game that was rained out in Florida two weeks ago. Tickets for the 3:05 p.m. game will be valid for the 6 p.m. game as well. The box office will remain open until the second inning of game two to allow for any additional ticket purchases.

BOX SCORE: Click Here

LOCATION: Ballpark at Rosemont

SCORE: Bandits 4, Pride 0

RECORDS: Bandits (23-15), Pride (27-11)

NEXT GAME: Sunday, August 3 vs. USSSA Pride at 3:05 p.m.

About USSSA Florida Pride
The USSSA Florida Pride is a professional franchise in the National Pro Fastpitch League that is owned and operated by USSSA. The amateur organization of USSSA has multi-sport coverage and encompasses teams and players from the United States and abroad.

About Chicago Bandits
Since 2005, the Chicago Bandits have been members of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. Located in Rosemont, the Bandits provide an opportunity for female fastpitch players to further their careers at a professional level, and the roster has included such names as Jennie Finch, Stacy May-Johnson and Monica Abbott. The two-time NPF Champions play at The Ballpark at Rosemont, the only stadium in the country built for a women’s professional team. The 2014 season will be the Bandits 10th season in the NPF.

About National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.  The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL).  NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball and has been since 2002.