(file photo by Jim Lindquist)
Ashley Betzold hurled a five-hit shutout and struck out 13 as the Tigers stretched their unbeaten streak to five games with an 8-0 win over Section 1 rival Rochester Mayo Friday afternoon in Rochester.
"The girls got a little revenge for last year when Mayo beat them in the playoffs," Tiger coach Paul Harrington said, "but we could see them down the road in a bigger section game this year."
Betzold was in control throughout and her teammates provided plenty of support, scoring seven runs over the middle three innings.
RBI singles by Rachel Brietich, Taylor Yousse and Betzold produced three runs in the third and Molly Berdan's two-run double accounted for two of the three Farmington scores in the fourth.
"Molly's double gave us some breathing room," Harrington said. "The bottom end of our batting order started our big rallies in the third and fourth."
Allie Rice singled to lead off the fifth and pinch-runner Hailey Monroe later scored on a fielder's choice for the seventh run and Rice led off the seventh inning with a solo home run to close the scoring.
Betzold and Rice continued to pace the Farmington offense, each coming up with a pair of hits and a run batted in.
Betzold walked only one batter in posting her second shutout of the season.
Next up for the Tigers is a Monday trip to Chanhassen for a showdown with the unbeaten Storm. Tuesday they host New Prague and Wednesday Red Wing comes to town before they close out their busy week with a road contest at Shakopee.
