No. 21 Fontbonne Softball Shuts Down Westminster; Brings Home Lots of Hardware

Elsah, Ill.-No. 21 ranked Fontbonne University Softball shut down the Westminster College Blue Jays 5-0 in the first round of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament today. The four-time SLIAC regular season champions take on Spalding University in round two.

Madi Leonard struck out two to begin the game and the Griffins scored in part to a leadoff walk and two hit-by-pitches in the opening inning. Jessie Pratt's sacrifice fly allowed Shannon Fitzpatrick to score the winning run. Marissa Simon scored on a passed ball to end first inning scoring. Fontbonne scored three more runs by game's end.

After the game, the SLIAC recognized players and coaches with an awards ceremony. Head Coach Bill Rosner and his coaching staff took home the Coach of the Year honors for the third straight year. Junior Cassi Glixman was honored as Player of the Year. Cassi accumulated 32 hits and zero strikeouts in conference regular season games with seven doubles and two home runs. Cassi led the SLIAC with 25 RBI's and 30 runs scored, while maintaining a .437 batting average.

Six Griffins (Sarah Cerutti, C. Glixman, Danni Glixman, Leonard, Lindsay Schaefer, Simon) earned 1st Team All-Conference honors with two (Fitzpatrick, Emily Smith) bringing home Honorable Mention honors and Cara Hargate earning the Griffin slot on the All-Sportsmanship Team.

The Griffins hope to revenge their only conference loss of the season to Spalding, their first conference loss in 37 games, as well as ending their 20-game win streak. First pitch is set for 5pm at Principia College, in Elsah, Ill.