Carson softball falls to Reno

It was a case of too much Stephanie Shuman.

The Reno ace blanked Carson on three hits and helped her own cause with three hits to spark the undefeated Huskies to a 5-0 win Thursday at Carson High.

The teams conclude their three-game series today at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader at Reno.

Reno is 19-0 in Sierra League play, and the Senators would love nothing more than to hang a loss on the league champs.

"Stephanie threw the ball well," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said. "She's not overpowering, but she hit her spots (all day).

"Obviously I didn't like not scoring. Except for two innings (fifth and seventh) we played well. Cassie pitched a good game. We walked out of there knowing we can compete with an undefeated team. We're looking forward to today. We'd like to steal at least one from them."

Shuman and Carson's Cassie Vondrak were locked in a scoreless duel for the first four innings.

Reno took a 3-0 lead in the fifth, two of the runs coming on a two-run double by Amanda Nims and the other on a run-scoring single by Jessica Pauletto.

The score remained that way until the seventh when Britton Murdock singled home a run and Ashleigh Rahming was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Pauletto, Nims and Naomi Garcia also hit safely that inning.

Christa Casci, Kaitlin Burroughs and Candice Rutledge each singled once for the Senators' only hits.

"We had opportunities; a few runners on," Vickrey said. "We just didn't get it done."

The key for Shuman was handling Dacey Hassey and Abby Rankl, the third and fourth hitters in the Carson order. Neither got a hit. She fanned four and walked three in her route-going performance.

"She got ahead of the hitters," Reno coach Jim Pace said. "She made them put the ball in play, and we played great defense. It's a good thing because we didn't hit the ball well until the last inning."