SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Barry University split another pair of games at the St. Mary's (TX) Collegiate Classic earlier today. The Buccaneers (4-2) picked up a 7-5 win early over the Incarnate Word Cardinals (0-3), but that was followed by a 3-1 loss to the 11th-ranked host St. Mary's (TX) Rattlers at the San Antonio Independent School District Triplex.

Against the Cardinals, the Buccaneers offensive drought showed signs of a new beginning in the third inning when the young Barry team scored five runs on four hits. Barry's Delilah Stroup (Sr., Punta Gorda, Fla.) belted a two-run homer to ignite the Bucs' scoring and that was followed by a three-run home run by Erin Sutton (Sr., Parrish, Fla.), the first of her collegiate career, to give Barry an early 5-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the same inning, the Cardinals responded with a three-run spurt on Barry starter Ramie Garcia (Jr., Scottsdale, Ariz.). After 2.2 innings and giving up three runs and five walks, Garcia was replaced by reliever Allison Perantoni (Fr., Miami, Fla.). Perantoni hurled the next. 2.1 innings and gave up two runs and walked three. Holli Davis (Fr., Lake Havasu, Ariz.) belted her first career solo homer in the fourth and two-time All-American Kim Fujimoto (Jr., Carmichael, Calif.) hit a one-run home run in the fifth to extend Barry's lead to seven. However, after giving up two runs, Elizabeth Bennett (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) closed out the game and picked up her third win of the year.

The Buccaneers began the next game with hot start when Sutton was hit by St. Mary's Malissa Magee (Fr., Katy, Texas) for free pass and an RBI. The Rattlers responded in the bottom of the first inning when Ronnie Garcia (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) drove in the tying run with an RBI double. Three-time All-American catcher Liz Beyer (Sr., San Antonio, Texas) added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to give the Rattlers a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, the Buccaneers threatened to score again with the bases loaded, but a strong defensive effort close the door and St. Mary's held on for the win.

Bennett (3-1) suffered the loss for Barry. Through six innings she gave up three runs and struck out five, while allowing six Rattler hits. Magee (1-0) picked up her first win of the season through seven innings allowing just one run on four Buccaneer hits and struck out eight in her collegiate debut.

Picking up her first two starts of the 2005 season for Barry, Davis led the Buccaneers at the plat going three for five with a double, a home run, an RBI and a run scored. Fujimoto followed with three hits, a home run and an RBI, while Sutton and Stroup added four and two RBI respectively.

The Buccaneers will wrap up the St. Mary's College Classic on Saturday, Feb. 5 taking on Midwestern State at 11 am EST. The Buccaneers will return to Buccaneer field next week for a three-game Sunshine State Conference series against top-ranked Florida Southern on Feb. 11.

Game 1
Barry 7, Incarnate Word 5 (02/04/2005 at San Antonio, TX)
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Barry............... 005 110 0 - 7 8 1 (4-1)
Incarnate Word...... 003 020 0 - 5 4 1 (0-3)
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Pitchers: Barry - Garcia; Perantoni(3); Bennett(6). Incarnate Word - Perez; Benavides(3).
Win-Bennett(3-0) Loss-Perez(0-1) T-2:09 A-46
HR BUS - Stroup (1); Fujimoto (1); Sutton (1); Davis (1).
Game: SB0204A

Game 2
St. Mary's (TX) 3, Barry 1 (02/04/2005 at San Antonio, TX)
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Barry............... 100 000 0 - 1 4 0 (4-2)
St. Mary's (TX)..... 102 000 X - 3 6 0 (2-0)
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Pitchers: Barry - Bennett. St. Mary's (TX) - M. Magee.
Win-M. Magee(1-0) Loss-Bennett(3-1) T-1:55 A-73
HR STMU - E. Beyer (1).
Game: SB0204B