Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C.-Barton College catcher Casey Strickland celebrated Senior Night with her first career home run Tuesday at Gillette Park, but the Lady Bulldogs had little else to enjoy in dropping a pair of Conference Carolinas softball contests to arch-rival Mount Olive College.
The visiting Lady Trojans (24-14, 12-4) hammered out 23 hits in the two-game set while holding the Lady Bulldogs (12-19, 2-10) to just 10. Mount Olive, the East Division leaders, took the first contest, 13-2, in five innings, and claimed the nightcap, 9-0.
Strickland, one of five Barton seniors honored in a ceremony between games, went 2-for-4 in the two games including the solo home run in the third inning of Game 1, the first hit of the game for the Lady Bulldogs off Mount Olive pitcher Christie Wright.
Amber Weaver added three hits in six at-bats for the Lady Bulldogs over the two contests.
Katie Moore went 3-for-4 with four RBI in Game 1 for the Lady Trojans, while Danielle Mitchell added a pair of hits and three RBI. Beth Overman had two hits in each of the two games, and scored a total of five runs. Kassie Lowe had two hits, including a home run, in Game 2 for Mount Olive, while Katie Devenuto went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
Mount Olive effectively put Game 1 away in its very first at-bat, when it sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs on seven hits off Barton pitcher Emily Jordan (3-8). Leadoff batter Kayla Voorhees had two doubles in the inning, and Rebekah McDaniel had a two-run double to highlight the inning.
The Lady Trojans added three more runs in the third on a two-out, bases-clearing double by Mitchell. Mount Olive tacked on four runs in the fifth, one on an Overman single and the other three on Moore's third home run of the year. The ball actually hit the glove of the Barton left-fielder, but bounced off it and over the fence.
Wright (4-6) gave up a total of four hits in the complete-game pitching win, walking one and striking out three. In addition to the Strickland home run, the Lady Bulldogs scored a run in the fourth after Weaver singled up the middle to lead off the inning, moved to second on a single down the left field line by Becka Morgan and came home on a Mount Olive throwing error.
In Game 2, Barton managed get a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the first, but Mount Olive used a fielder's choice to get out of the inning. Pittman (4-6), the Game 2 starter for Barton, kept the Lady Trojans off the board until the third inning, when Mount Olive used a pair of hits and a pair of Barton errors to score three times.
Mount Olive scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, and capped off the game with a three-run seventh inning that included three hits and Barton error.
After its threat in the first inning, Barton did not get a runner into scoring position again in the game off Mount Olive pitcher Lauren Smith (14-6). Smith gave up six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out a pair of Lady Bulldogs.
Barton hopes to get back on track Thursday when it hosts Lees-McRae College in a 4 p.m. league doubleheader at Gillette Park.
