Rochester Mayo puts Amy Kelly on edge, but you wouldn't know it by watching Kelly pitch against the Spartans.

The Packers' junior hurler maintained her scoreless innings streak against Mayo and also scored the game-winning run as Austin (18-3) moved into the Section 1AAA finals with a 2-0 win in eight innings Friday night at Todd Park.

Kelly reached on one of five Spartan errors with one out in the eighth, and moved all the way to third when a hard-hit ball off the bat of Keri Feller ricocheted into foul ground off the leg of Mayo second baseman Megan Linbo.

Packer junior Steph Eslinger, known more for her firepower than finesse, dropped down a suicide squeeze bunt that Mayo pitcher Brittany Rathbun could not handle. Kelly slid safely into home plate without a play.

"We're all supposed to know how to bunt, we've practiced it all season long," Eslinger said. "It was just my turn to do it. I don't usually get a bunt (sign) and I knew I had to get it down."

Rathbun charged the bunt but bobbled the ball. Eslinger was safe at first as Kelly came across as the eventual game-winner.

"We talked about it, coach said he was sick of waiting, so I expected it," Kelly said of the squeeze play. "I was really nervous, not that Steph wouldn't get the bunt down, but that they were going to get me out because I felt like I was running slow."

The Packer rally continued after scoring the breakthrough run. The fourth ball to Nicole Turvey came in the form of a wild pitch, allowing courtesy runner Meggan Rider to score from third. Steph Sundberg spun a curveball off the end of her bat for a groundout, scoring Eslinger.

"We've had this type of game all year against them," said Mayo coach Steven Riles -- an Austin native. "That's the type of game we knew we were going to have."

Austin swept the sixth-seeded Spartans (12-10-1) in Big Nine Conference play this season and made it three in a row with Friday's semifinal squeaker. The Pack, seeded second in Section 1, scored twice in the top of the eighth to break a scoreless tie and advance in the double-elimination tournament.

"This was very similar to the first game we played at Rochester," Austin coach Todd Waterbury said. "We found a way to win it in the eighth inning.

"The squeeze is a hit-or-miss play, but you put the ball in play and the pressure goes on them to make the play. We felt like we had the people to make the play and they got it done."

Kelly and her defense blanked Mayo for the third time this year, limiting the Spartans to a total of nine hits against 30 strikeouts. Kelly sat down 10 in Friday's win, scattering six hits and her first two walks of the postseason.

"They were making me really nervous, they got someone to second base in about every inning," Kelly said. "But everyone stepped up making the plays when we needed to."

Four of Mayo's eight runners left on base were in scoring position, including two on and two out in the fifth and sixth innings. Kelly handled the final out in each frame, getting a strikeout and a grounder back to the mound to muffle both Mayo threats.

"We had the chance to score, but we just couldn't get the hit," Riles said. "We've been maturing all season long, but to win you've gotta get that hit."

Kelly limited Mayo to two hits in the 2-0, eight-inning affair early in the year, and the Spartans managed one single in a 2-0 loss at Austin. Rathbun had two of Mayo's six hits Friday night, running her postseason batting total to 7-for-11 (.636).

Notes: Kelly has thrown 15 scoreless innings in two games of Section 1AAA play, scattering seven hits and two walks against 17 strikeouts. The Packers' opponents are hitting .137 (7-51) against Kelly, whose season earned run average dropped to 0.55 after her 10th shutout. Turvey is 3-6 (.500) at the plate in the postseason, while Kelly and Sundberg are 3-7 (.429). Austin has been successful on three sacrifice bunts in each game of the tournament.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.