Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
RALEIGH, N.C. – Barton College junior Liz White was credited with her second collegiate no-hitter in Game 1 and Betsy Braswell delivered her first home run of the year in Game 2 as the Lady Bulldogs swept host Shaw University on Monday at Worthdale Park, 3-0 and 7-4.
The wins gave Barton four straight victories and a season record of 14-22. The Lady Bears fell to 4-22 on the year.
Game 1: Barton 3, Shaw 0
White (9-10) struck out eight and walked two in her first seven-inning no-hitter. She previously achieved the feat in a 10-0 five-inning rout of Belmont Abbey College as a freshman on March 21, 2013.
The junior has now given up three hits or less in each of her last four starts, a span of 23 innings.
Barton gave her a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a double by Lindsey Sharpe and RBI singles by Samantha Bass and Megan Kelly. The extra-base hit for Sharpe was her third in the past two games.
The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the fourth when Kelly singled through the left side, stole second and came around on a pair of wild pitches by Shaw pitcher Frances Perry (2-14). The Lady Bulldogs produced nine hits in the game off Perry and drew a pair of walks while striking out once. Barton also took advantage of four errors by the Lady Bears.
In addition to the two walks issued by White, Shaw had two players reach base on errors charged to Barton. However, no runner ever reached scoring position during White's 90-pitch performance.
Game 2: Barton 7, Shaw 4
Both teams reached double-figures in hits in the second contest, with Barton collecting 11 and Shaw producing 10.
The Lady Bears enjoyed the early advantage after scoring a run in the first inning on a two-out throwing error by BC and adding another run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single up the middle by Shanice Anderson off Barton starter Ashlyn Reagan (2-12).
Barton cut the deficit in half in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Sharpe off Shaw pitcher Krystal Laflora (2-7), then took the lead with a four-run fifth inning that was highlighted by the two-run homer from Braswell over the fence in left. Also scoring on the hit was Jordan, who had beat out an infield single to short just before the homer. Reagan also helped her own cause later in the frame by driving in a run on a sacrifice fly.
Braswell added an RBI double on her next at-bat in the sixth, extending Barton's lead to 6-2. However, the Lady Bears struck back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Both runs trotted home, the first on a bases-loaded walk and the other on a hit batsman, also with the bases full.
Leading now by just two, 6-4, with the bases loaded and one out, Reagan got a big strikeout of Perry, who had pinch-hit, and then a grounder to second to end the inning with the bases left full.
The Lady Bulldogs then tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Sharpe that scored White, who had reached base on an infield single.
Reagan did not need the extra run, however, as she allowed only a one-out single in the seventh while finishing off the victory.
Braswell, Jordan and Sharpe each had two hits for the Lady Bulldogs, while Briana Bease went 3-for-4 for Shaw.
The contest was the third doubleheader in three days for Barton, which has one more to go on Tuesday when it hosts Saint Augustine's University in a 2 p.m. twinbill at Jeffries Field.
