BANNER ELK, N.C. – Five Bobcats finished with multiple hits in game one, led by
Julie Gast and
Lauren Ritchie who each finished 3 for 4 with a combined four RBIs and three runs scored, as the Lees-McRae softball team plated nine runs on 14 hits in the opening game, before falling short in game two to earn a split with visiting Mount Olive in the season finale this afternoon.
GAME #1 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae – 9; Mount Olive – 8
LOCATION: Softball Field – Banner Elk, North Carolina
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (13-24/8-11), Mount Olive (20-13/13-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Gast finished 3 for 4 with four RBIs, a home run, and two runs scored, while Ritchie went 3 for 4 with a run scored.
- Amber Corvin and Hannah Foster both finished 2 for 4 with an RBI, while Mallory Myers went 2 for 4 with a double and a pair of runs scored.
- Katelyn Wyatt and Charlsy Traylor both also registered a hit in the opening game, with Traylor hitting a double.
- Lees-McRae opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Wyatt doubled to the left-center field that scored Sarah Beth Thomas.
- Mount Olive responded by scoring four runs in the top of the second inning, with the Bobcats using a three-run home run by Gast in the bottom of the frame to even the score at 4-4.
- The Trojans reclaimed the lead with a run in the top of the fourth.
- A pair of RBI singles by Gast and Foster gave the Bobcats a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
- After Mount Olive scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 8-6 lead, Lees-McRae used a pair of errors by the Trojans to plate three runs in the bottom of the frame and retake a 9-8 lead.
- Traylor shut down Mount Olive in the top of the seventh inning to clinch her third win of the weekend by giving up only four earned runs on 11 hits in seven innings of work.
FOR THE FOES:
- Three Trojans posted multiple hits in game one, led by Alexis Oliver who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
- Hailey Kessinger was credited with the loss by giving up two earned runs on 14 hits in six innings of work.
GAME #2 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Mount Olive – 3; Lees-McRae – 1
LOCATION: Softball Field – Banner Elk, North Carolina
RECORDS: Mount Olive (21-13/14-6), Lees-McRae (13-25/8-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Foster went 2 for 3 to pace the Bobcats in the later game of the doubleheader.
- Traylor went 1 for 3 with an RBI, while Ritchie went 1 for 2 with a walk drawn.
- Lees-McRae opened the scoring for the second-consecutive game by using a single to right field in the bottom of the first, which scored Thomas, to take a 1-0 lead.
- The Trojans responded with a run in the top of the second to even the score.
- Mount Olive closed the scoring with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth, before holding the Bobcats in check in the final four innings to clinch the split.
- Traylor was credited with the loss in the second game, scattering three runs on seven hits.
FOR THE FOES:
- Madison Morgan and Cana Shrock both finished 2 for 3 to pace the Trojans in game two.
- Mallory Ratcliff gave up only one run on four hits to clinch the win in the later game.
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