Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College pitcher Liz White tossed 10 scoreless innings over two games and was backed by 21 hits from the BC offense as the Lady Bulldogs swept visiting Elizabeth City State University, 4-0 and 7-1, in a non-conference softball doubleheader Sunday at Jeffries Field.
White, a junior from Windsor, N.C., earned the pitching victory in both games, giving up just two hits over six innings of Game 1 and three hits over four innings of the nightcap while striking out a combined nine. Hayley Baxley finished off both contests, earning a save in the second game with three innings of work.
Sophomore Megan Kelly went 4-for-6 over the two games with two runs scored, one RBI and four stolen bases, including a swipe of home. Senior Betsy Braswell also had four hits in the doubleheader, while Rachel Jordan and Lindsey Sharpe each added three.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 12-22 on the season, while Elizabeth City State fell to 2-20.
Game 1: Barton 4, Elizabeth City State 0
White gave up a single right back through the pitching circle to Morgan Howell just two batters into the contest, but then retired the next 14 batters in a row.
Liz White issued her only walk of the game to Kelsey White to open the sixth, and gave up her only other hit of the game – again to Howell – on a two-out single to left field. Kelsey White attempted to score from second on the hit, but Kelly threw her out on a perfect throw to the plate to end the inning and preserve the shutout.
Barton took a 1-0 lead off Kelsey White, ECSU's starter, in the bottom of the second when Braswell delivered a leadoff single to center field and Crystal Britton followed with a triple into the gap in right-center.
The Lady Bulldogs scored again in the bottom of the third with the help of a two-out fielding error by the Vikings. Donna Nimmo, who had singled with two outs and moved to second on the booted grounder to short, came home on a single off the third base bag and down the left field line by Braswell.
Barton manufactured a run in the fifth inning entirely on the speed of Kelly, who is now 14-of-15 in stolen-base attempts on the season. Kelly reached base by beating out a single back to the pitching circle, stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nimmo. Kelly then took off for home on a failed squeeze bunt attempt, sliding in safely ahead of the tag after the pitch was low and outside in the dirt.
BC tacked on one more unearned run in the sixth when Sharpe scored on a passed ball after reaching on a single, stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch.
Baxley pitched the final inning for Barton, needing just four pitches to retire the side.
Kelsey White (0-10) took the loss for the Vikings after giving up four hits and two runs – one earned – in three innings of work. Rachel Gilliken worked the final three innings, giving up five hits and two runs, one of them earned.
Game 2: Barton 7, Elizabeth City State 1
The Barton offense gave Liz White a lead in its first at-bat of the second contest after Kelly singled, advanced to third on a pair of passed balls and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nimmo.
The Lady Bulldogs tacked on three more runs off ECSU starter Lilyann Arnold (1-7) in the second inning on a triple by Sharpe followed by RBI singles from Sydney Burton, Kelly and Jordan.
The Vikings produced two hits off Liz White in the second inning – the same number as in all of Game 1 – and moved both into scoring position with two outs, but White got a foul-out to third base to end the threat.
Elizabeth City State scored its only run of the day in the top of the fifth after greeting the reliever Baxley with consecutive hits by Haley Williams and Kelsey White, then receiving a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Kiyana Merritt.
That score cut the Barton lead to 4-1, but the Lady Bulldogs chased Arnold and put the game away by producing three more runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth, including a two-run double by Sharpe and a one-run double by Baxley.
Arnold was tagged for 11 hits and seven runs, six of them earned, over 4 2/3 innings.
The two games left BC halfway through a stretch of eight games over four days. Barton will travel to Raleigh on Monday to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Shaw University, then returns home to host Saint Augustine's University in a pair of games on Tuesday starting at 2 p.m.
