COCOA, Fla. - Alex Hugo (Olathe, Kan.) launched a walk-off home run to secure the Stripes’ 10-9 victory over the Stars in the first game of the Women’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) on Monday, October 11, at the Launch Pad Sports Complex in Cocoa, Florida.

The Stripes broke onto the scoreboard first with three runs in the bottom of the first and the Stars equaled that in the top of the second to start a back-and-forth contest that featured scoring in all but four frames. After the Stripes grabbed a 5-3 advantage in the second, the Stars came roaring back to take a 7-6 lead – their first of the game – in the top of the third. The lead didn’t last long as the Stripes went ahead, 8-7, in the very next frame but the Stars were able to tie it once again at 9-9 in the sixth before Hugo’s homer proved to be the difference in the seventh.

Jade Gortarez (Riverside, Calif.) led the Stripes offense with three hits, followed closely by Maggie Paulovich (Albany, Calif.) and Remi Schaber (Memphis, Tenn.) who both tallied two hits in the contest. Paulovich and Jill Albayati (Anaheim, Calif.) led the Stripes in RBIs with two each. Four Stars players also collected multi-hit games, including Jamie Baum (Los Altos, Calif.), Amanda Gianelloni (Napoleonville, La.), Ashton Lansdell (Marietta, Ga.), and Malaika Underwood (San Diego, Calif.).

Olivia Pichardo (Forest Hills, N.Y.) earned the win in the contest after throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Stripes while allowing just one hit. Meggie Meidlinger (Sterling, Va.) suffered the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 1.1 innings of work for the Stars.

Key Moments

• Gortarez led off the bottom of the second with a single before coming around to score the first run of the game on an RBI single off the bat of Albayati to give the Stripes a 1-0 lead.
• An RBI double from Schaber and an RBI single be Denae Benites (Las Vegas, Nev.) made it 3-0 for the Stripes through one inning.
• The Stars answered in the next frame as Lansdell, Anna Kimbrell (Fort Mill, S.C.), and Chloe Aldrich (Friendswood, Texas) led off the top of the third with three singles in a row that made it a 3-1 game.
• Alana Martinez (Cooper City, Fla.) kept the momentum going with the fourth consecutive single for the Stars to load the bases before Aldrich took advantage of a Stripes miscue to score and cut the Stars deficit to one.
• The Stripes then added to their lead with a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch that made it 5-3 in the bottom of the second.
• The Stars got one back in the top of the third courtesy of a sacrifice fly off the bat of Martinez to make it a one-run game.
• But Gortarez extended the Stripes lead to 6-4 with her third single of the game in the bottom of the third that brought in Paloma Benach (Washington, D.C.).
• The Stars tied the game once again in the top of the fourth with a bases-loaded single by Lansdell and got the lead with a bases-loaded walk by Kimbrell one batter later that made it 7-6.
• The Stripes had another immediate answer in the bottom of the fourth though, plating two runs of their own to take back an 8-7 lead before adding added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on a Stars error.
• After the Stars loaded the bases themselves in the top of the sixth, Delaney Dunham (Mont Belvieu, Texas) crushed a two-out double to right that tied the game at 9-9.
• With one out in the top of the seventh, Hugo launched a bomb over the left field wall to finish off the 10-9 victory for the Stripes.

Notable Information

• The Stripes now lead the 2021 Women’s NTDP series 1-0 over the Stars.
• The Stars and Stripes scored 19 total runs and tallied 26 total hits in the first game of the series.
• Gortarez finished 3-for-3 with three singles for the Stripes in the contest.
• Aldrich and Dunham both collected two RBIs for the Stars on Monday.

On Deck

• October 12: Stars vs. Stripes (1:00 p.m. EDT; Cocoa, Fla.; Launch Pad Sports Complex)
• October 13: Stars vs. Stripes (2:00 p.m. EDT; Cocoa, Fla.; Launch Pad Sports Complex)
• October 14: Stars vs. Stripes (12:15 p.m. EDT; Cocoa, Fla.; Launch Pad Sports Complex)

Social

• Stay tuned to @USABaseballWNT on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the Women's National Team program.