Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College pitcher Ashlyn Reagan held the league's best offense to one unearned run and freshman Megan Kelly provided all the run support she would need with a two-run single as Barton College edged North Greenville University, 2-1, in the second half of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader Saturday at Jeffries Field.
The Lady Bulldogs also appeared to have the opening game wrapped up, but a freak error on what would have been the last out of the game allowed the Crusaders to tie the game at 1-all, and North Greenville eventually won it in the 12th inning, 6-4.
The split left Barton at 10-14 overall and 4-4 in the conference, while North Greenville moved to 18-9 overall and 6-2 in league play. The Crusaders remain in first place in the conference, while Barton is in a four-way tie for third.
Reagan (6-4), a sophomore transfer from Hampstead, N.C., won for the sixth time in her last seven decisions, and improved her record in league play to 4-0. She did so Saturday against a North Greenville team that came into the twin bill having outscored its opponents this season 124 to 66 while batting a league-high .305.
The Crusaders managed seven hits off Reagan, but just one after the fourth inning. Reagan walked two and struck out one.
North Greenville did have some chances early against Reagan, beginning with the very first inning, when a two-out single by Rachel Glazebrook and a double by Morgan Roach put a pair of runners in scoring position. However, Reagan worked out of the inning with a groundout.
The Crusaders scored its only run in the top of the second inning when Tori Freedman doubled with one out, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a single to center by Megan Steading. NGU had two runners on and just one out at the time, but Reagan avoided further damage with a pop-up to third and a fly ball to center.
Barton immediately responded to give her the lead. The Lady Bulldogs loaded the bases with no one out on a double to right-center by Betsy Braswell, an infield single to short by Taylor Bowden and a bunt single by Alex Baylis.
North Greenville starter Cassi Carpenter (1-3) almost got out of the inning unscathed, getting consecutive groundballs that turned into force outs at home plate. However, Kelly, who came into the game fourth in the league in hitting at .403 and leading the team in RBI with 14, did not let her escape, drilling a 1-0 pitch into the gap in left-center to drive in Braswell and Bowden with the go-ahead runs.
Both teams had only one more scoring opportunity in the pitcher's duel. North Greenville's came in the fourth inning, when a one-out single by Freedman, a two-out walk to Steading and a single up the middle by Sarah Armstrong loaded the bases, but Reagan got a fly ball to left to strand the three runners.
Barton had a chance to pad its lead off Carpenter in the sixth when Rachel Jordan and Baylis both singled and Samantha Bass was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Carpenter recorded a strikeout to end the inning. Carpenter had a total of four strikeouts and no walks.
Baylis and Kendra Kassonie each had two of eight hits surrendered by Carpenter, who had posted two-hit victories over the Lady Bulldogs in each of the past two seasons.
Reagan retired 10 of the last 11 batters she faced, but the one hit allowed opened the door for one of the best hitters in the league, Glazebrook, to get one more at-bat with two outs in the seventh. However, Glazebrook hit a sharp grounder to first that was stabbed by Jordan to seal the victory.
Glazebrook, who came into Saturday's play hitting .468 with a pair of home runs and 20 RBI, produced a much different result near the end of game one, blasting a two-run shot over the fence in left field as part of the three-run inning that finally ended the marathon game in the 12th.
Nearly three hours earlier, it was Barton's Braswell who ripped a 1-0 pitch from Glazebrook over the fence down the left field line for her first home run of the year, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage.
Barton took that lead into the seventh inning, as White (1-8) produced an outstanding six-hit shutout through the first six frames against the potent Crusader lineup.
In the top of the seventh, Armstrong reached base on a single through the right side with one out, and became the second out of the inning when Shayna Finley hit a fielder's choice grounder to third. Reagan worked around Glazebrook, walking her on four pitches, to force Finley to second base.
On a one-strike pitch, Reagan got the result she wanted to end the game, a grounder to short. Barton's shortstop, Kassonie, fielded the ball cleanly to her right and threw the ball on a straight line to third, but the ball struck Finley in the back of the helmet as she raced toward the third base bag. The ball bounced high off the helmet and to the fence to the right of the third-base dugout, allowing Finley to score the tying run.
White got a grounder to second to get out of the inning without further damage, and Barton nearly rallied in the bottom of the seventh after Baylis singled and stole second, but Glazebrook got a grounder to short to send the game to extra innings.
Using the international tiebreaker where a runner is placed in scoring position at second base to start each inning, both teams had numerous chances to win the game over the next four innings.
North Greenville had a runner thrown out at the plate as part of a 4-3-2 double-play to end the eighth, and Barton had runners at second and third with no one out in the bottom of the frame, but Glazebrook produced consecutive strikeouts and a foul out to the catcher to escape.
Both sides sacrificed their tiebreaker runners over to third in the ninth, only to strand them there. In the 10th, both runners were moved over on sacrifices, and this time both scored on groundouts, making the score 2-2.
In the 11th, both sides had the chance to score beyond their inherited runner, only to come away with one run each.
North Greenville got a double from Roach and a single from Megan Johnson with just one out, but White got a foul out to left and a fly ball to center to limit the damage.
Barton used a leadoff double from Braswell to score the inherited runner, and White followed with a single down the right field line, but Braswell was thrown out at third after heading too far towards home before deciding to retreat. One out later, Bowden produced a single that would have scored Braswell with the winning run, but instead Barton ended up with two runners stranded in scoring position following a grounder to first.
Given extra chances numerous times, the Crusaders finally took advantage in the 12th. NGU sacrificed its inherited runner, Christie Reilly, to third, and Reilly scored on a wild pitch to put North Greenville up 4-3. Finley followed with a single up the middle, and Glazebrook ripped a 2-0 pitch from White well over the fence in left to give the Crusaders a three-run cushion, 6-3.
Barton scored its inherited runner on a dropped fly ball to left, cutting the deficit to 6-4, but Glazebrook got three straight outs to end the game and improve to 13-4 on the year.
The game marked the second straight day in which North Greenville had gone 12 innings in a game, both of them with Glazebrook on the mound. She threw nearly 200 pitches in a 3-2 loss at Mount Olive on Friday, and registered 178 pitches in the win over Barton.
The Georgia Tech transfer and two-time All-Conference selection gave up eight hits and one earned run in her 12 innings of work, walking two and striking out six.
White finished with 10 hits allowed in her 12 innings of work, two earned runs, five walks and two strikeouts.
Glazebrook had all two hits and all three of North Greenville's RBI in the game. Roach went 3-for-4 and Finley was 2-of-5 with two runs scored.
Braswell and White each had three hits and an RBI for Barton.
The twin bill was the first of three straight home doubleheaders for the Lady Bulldogs. Barton will return to action on Thursday, March 27, with a pair of non-conference games against Fayetteville State beginning at 2 p.m.
