GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College
softball team walked off with an extra-inning victory on Saturday
afternoon en route to a sweep of a doubleheader against Lees-McRae
College in non-conference play.
Tusculum (4-4) tallied 10 hits on the afternoon, driving in five
runs while recording a shutout against Lees-McRae (4-3) in the
nightcap. The Pioneers won the opener by a score of 3-2 in eight
innings, before shutting out the Bobcats, 6-0, in the nightcap.
Kristen Oakes (Lenoir, N.C.) paced the Bobcats with three hits
in six at-bats, driving in both of Lees-McRae's runs, as Lindsey
Huntsinger (Asheville, N.C.) and Amanda Decker (Apex, N.C.) each
recorded a pair of base knocks.
Laurel Gregg (Mars Hill, N.C.) allowed three runs (one earned)
on six hits in seven and two-thirds innings of work in game one,
walking three and striking out five. Oakes got the nod in game two,
allowing four earned runs on four hits in six innings.
Kaytlin Stroinski and Nicole Ball led the way for Tusculum with
two hits each, as Stroinski and Ashley Burke both drove in a pair
of runs. Elizabeth Johnson got the nod in game one, allowing two
runs on seven hits and striking out six in eight innings of work.
Brooke Lauritzen tossed six shutout innings in game two, scattering
four hits and recording four strikeouts as Lindsay Bridges threw a
scoreless seventh frame.
Game One: Tusculum 3, Lees-McRae 2 - 8 innings (Box Score)
The Bobcats got on the board early in game one, pushing two runs
across in the top of the first on a two-run single by Oakes that
scored Huntsinger and Kierstie Moon (Oxford, Ga.). Tusculum got one
back in the bottom of the inning, halving the lead to 2-1 on a
Bobcat miscue. The Pioneers pulled even in the third, leveling the
score at 2-2 with an RBI single by Burke.
The game would go to extra innings, with the Bobcats putting a
runner on third in the eighth before Tusculum shut the door to send
the game to the bottom of the frame still tied. Tusculum answered
the call in the bottom of the inning, sacrificing Savannah Ewing to
third before Paige Sneed dropped a walk-off single into center to
score Ewing.
Game Two: Tusculum 6, Lees-McRae 0 (Box Score)
Tusculum opened the scoring with four runs in the second, lacing
three hits and taking advantage of a Bobcat error en route to an
early 4-0 lead. Stroinski delivered the key hit in the inning with
a two-run double, as she and Katie Gross scored on a pair of wild
pitches.
The Pioneers would add a run in each of the fifth and sixth
innings to equal the final margin of 6-0, as Lauritzen and Bridges
combined for a five-hit shutout.
Lees-McRae returns to the diamond on Monday when the Bobcats
travel to Jefferson City, Tenn. to take on Carson-Newman College in
an non-conference doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
- LMC -
