Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C.-The Limestone College softball team moved back into a first-place tie in Conference Carolinas on Thursday, pounding out 24 hits and taking advantage of five Barton College errors over two games to sweep the Bulldogs, 10-1 and 11-1, in a doubleheader at Jeffries Field. Both games were shortened to six innings by the eight-run rule.
The victories helped the Saints rejoin Mount Olive at the top of the league at 8-2. Limestone, now 14-12 overall, has won its last five games. Barton, which had won three of its last four games coming into the contest, fell to 7-21 overall and 4-12 in conference play.
Senior Rebecca Morgan paced the Bulldogs offensively, going 4-for-6 in the two contests with a double in each half of the twinbill. Liz Webb went 2-for-3 in game two with an RBI.
Limestone, meanwhile, was led by the bottom of its batting order. In game one, the 7-9 hitters – Erika Hansen, Taylor Wigmore and Kayla Kelly, respectively – combined to go 7-for-11 with four RBI to pace a 13-hit attack. In the second contest, Hansen batted sixth and again had two hits and two RBI. Kelly, batting eighth, also had two hits and an RBI, and No. 9 hitter Paige Bolding drove in three runs. Collectively, the 6-9 batters had six of the team's 10 hits and drove in four runs.
Webb, the starting pitcher for Barton in game one, managed to work out of two early jams, stranding a pair of runners in each of the first two innings. The Bulldogs had their best chance to give Webb (2-5) a lead in the second inning after Morgan led off with a single and then was replaced a first by Emily Leagon following a fielder's choice. Consecutive singles by Kristen Moore and Alex Baylis loaded the bases with one out, but Limestone pitcher Shelby Webb got a strikeout and a grounder to short to end the threat.
The Saints then gave their pitcher a huge lead in the top of the third with a seven-run inning. Limestone produced five hits in the frame, including a two-run single by Alex Brown and a two-run single by Kelley. The Saints scored their final three runs on a dropped fly ball to deep left field with the bases loaded.
Barton would produce just one base-runner over the next three innings against Shelby Webb, who scattered seven hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter in improving to 5-7 on the year.
Limestone added three unearned runs in the top of the sixth on three hits and a pair of Barton fielding miscues. Hansen had an RBI single in the inning and Wigmore contributed an RBI double.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, using consecutive doubles by Amanda Schatz and Morgan.
In game two, the two squads played three scoreless innings before Limestone erupted for a five-run fourth inning on four hits and a Barton error. The Saints scored their first run on a passed ball, and Hansen drove in the team's second run with a single down the left field line. After a dropped fly ball in left loaded the bases again, Bolding drew an RBI walk and Ashley Cox singled down the left field line. Barton starter Autumn Pittman (2-9) recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but issued another bases-loaded walk to Burleson before finally getting out of the inning.
The Saints added two runs in the fourth when a double by Hansen and single by Wigmore set the table for RBI singles by Kelly and Bolding.
Barton cut the deficit to 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Pittman singled to lead off the frame, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a double to right by Webb.
However, Limestone put itself in position to close out the game early with a three-run sixth inning, using a bases-loaded walk to Brown, a bases-loaded grounder that was misplayed at second base, and a fielder's choice grounder that scored another run before the Saints ran themselves into an inning-ending double play.
Limestone pitcher Leah Quant scattered seven hits in the complete-game win, striking one seven and not walking a batter in improving to 6-5 on the year.
Barton returns to action on Monday when it will host Chowan University in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Jeffries Field.
