Talons take AUSL Championship Series opener, can clinch title Sunday (2 ET, ESPN)

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. -- The Utah Talons are a victory away from winning a second straight Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship because they do little things well.

Utah right-hander Georgina Corrick pitched a four-hitter and Sahvanna Jaquish’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning lifted the Talons a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Bandits in the opening game of their best-of-three championship series on Saturday afternoon at Texas A&M’s Davis Diamond.

The Talons, who swept the Bandits in last year’s inaugural championship series, will get a chance to do that again on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN). A third game, if needed, would be Monday at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

Corrick struck out five without issuing a walk. She allowed four singles, only one of which left the infield. She was nicked for a run in the third inning, when Morgan Zerkle’s sacrifice fly helped the Bandits take advantage of Corrick hitting two batters. But the former South Florida standout retired 15 of the last 16 batters she faced.

“So, if I pluck you or if I let you get on via a freebie [or] base hit, whatever it is, it’s really important for me that I kind of double down and refuse a secondary [mistake],” Corrick said.

The Bandits didn’t hit another ball out of the infield against her after Zerkle’s sacrifice fly.

“I don’t have to throw the best pitches in the world, because I have one of the best defenses in the world behind me,” Corrick said. “So, I have a lot of trust and faith in them that they will do their jobs the way that I’m trying to do mine. It helps take some of the pressure off of me so I can just take it one pitch at a time.”

Bandits right-hander Lexi Kilfoyl matched Corrick though five innings, but the Talons got to her for two hits in an inning for the first time in the sixth. Jadelyn Allchin hit a leadoff single and moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Sharlize Palacios lined a shot off the top of the left-field fence for a long single as Chicago’s Bella Dayton played the carom perfectly, leaving runners on the corners.

The Bandits intentionally walked Bri Ellis, who finished 0-for-2, to load the bases. Jaquish managed to foul off an 0-2 pitch before hitting a fly ball deep enough to score the go-ahead run.

“It wasn’t fancy with any big hits,” Palacios said. “But you know that’s the way we play ball sometimes -- bunt them over, get them in.”

The Talons scored their first run in the first inning. Allchin was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a groundout by Jordan Woolery. That groundout was key because Palacios followed with a two-out hit into shallow left-center field to score Allchin.

“I think it came down to who was a little scrappier in the heat, and it was really nice to come out on top,” Corrick said.

Chicago opened the game with a baserunning error. Skylar Wallace hit a leadoff single and Zerkle added a one-out swinging bunt single. Chicago’s Mac Barbara hit a sinking line drive that Utah center fielder Jayda Coleman was able to catch before doubling off Wallace at second base.

“The margin of winning at this level is so slim,” Chicago coach Shonda Stanton said. “Even though we don’t have any errors in that column, we made some defensive miscues that allowed them to push the two runs across.

"I thought offensively, we talk all the time about being the factor, and I felt today our [at-bats], we just were a little bit too safe offensively. We could have been better in terms of getting our swings off in the limited changes we had.”

The Bandits had a chance to break the game open in the third inning. Dayton led off with a single, then Corrick hit Wallace and Sami Williams with pitches. Zerkle’s sacrifice managed to tie the game, but Barbara struck out to close the frame.

“As a pitcher, I would rather really try and attack you in a location, and if I happen to hit you, I happen to hit you,” Corrick said. "I think two of those getting away from me, they’re not necessarily the pitches that I want to throw. I’m looking for a slightly different spot. But at the end of the day, I gave them a freebie, and it’s really important for me as a defensive pitcher, as someone who likes to set a tone for my team, to not allow back-to-backs."

Kilfoyl allowed five hits. The right-hander, who played collegiate softball at Alabama and Oklahoma State, struck out three and walked one. She pitched seven innings of relief in Thursday night’s 6-5 walk-off victory over the Portland Cascade in the play-in game.

“I think we didn’t really grab the energy and run with it,” Kilfoyl said.