Alverno's Goetz throws second career no-hitter
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- With a 13-strikeout effort in the first game and her first two career shutouts, junior pitcher Jessica Goetz helped guide the Alverno College softball team to its first two Northern Athletics Conference victories of the season as the Inferno downed Maranatha Baptist Bible College, 9-0 and 8-0, on Friday afternoon on Alverno’s home field.

Goetz (Milwaukee/Greendale Martin Luther) also hurled her second career no-hitter in the second game and finished just two K’s shy of her career-best effort in the circle in the first game, as she retired 15 batters against Concordia University Chicago last April, and tied a previous 13-strikeout effort against Lakeland College also set last season.

“Jessie did a fabulous job throwing strikes in the first game and then keeping the hitters off balance in that second game,” said Alverno head coach Heather Burtman. “She throws a lot of innings for us, so for her to put forth that type of effort was great to see.”

Although Goetz has thrown all but two innings this week, she gave up just two hits and two walks in the first game and added six more knock-outs in game two to increase her total to 19 on the day.

“To be honest my arm was a little sore, but I try to pull through and get what I can for outs,” Goetz said. “It’s always good to reach the achievement of a no-hitter in softball, just as it is to get a strikeout or anything else positive that can be put towards the season’s statistics.”

The Inferno (4-15, 2-11 NAC) got on the board in the second inning of the first game with a pair of 2 RBI doubles by senior catcher Rebecca Schmid (Tigerton) and sophomore short stop Megan Burgess (Racine/Park). Alverno would tack on five more runs in the game and play errorless defense to finish off the Crusaders in five innings.

Freshman first baseman Calan Hess (Franklin) also added a double in the game, while freshman second baseman Rosaliz David (Milwaukee/Hamilton) led the Inferno in the batter’s box with three of her team’s nine hits, two RBI and two runs scored.

Alverno found offense slightly harder to come by in the second game, leading a fairly close 4-0 contest heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. At that point the Inferno took control with smart at-bats, drawing three walks, and snagged bases on miscues. An RBI double by Burgess effectively ended the game, as the hit scored the fourth run to put the Inferno in front by eight runs, activating the run rule.

“It’s nice to win again, since it’s been a little while,” said Burtman, whose team has endured a dry spell since winning a pair of games over Mount Mary College back on March 23. “All wins are good wins and conference wins are the best ones to get. I thought we made great improvements defensively over our games at Marian on Wednesday. I was also happy with how quickly our hitters were able to adjust to Maranatha’s pitcher and get some runs on the board early in the first game.”

Alverno will continue NAC play with tomorrow’s doubleheader at Edgewood College.

“It’ll be interesting because we thought we did alright against Marian other than some defensive errors, and we put Edgewood in that same category as far as team strength,” Burtman said. “I think if we play clean defense and we make some solid contact at the plate, we’ve got a really good shot at them.”

Goetz agrees, and hopes that today’s offensive effort will give her team some collective assurance in their abilities having already faced some of the tougher teams in the conference.

“I think today helps boost our confidence heading into tomorrow’s games against Edgewood,” Goetz said. “We know they’ll be a tough team because they’re usually pretty good, but we’re starting to work on some of the things we need to improve on.”

First pitch at Edgewood is slated for 12 p.m. in Madison, Wis.

Courtesy of Alverno College, Sports Information Department, April 17, 2009.