Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
ANDERSON, S.C. – Freshman Hannah Jones had two hits and drove in four runs to lead Barton College in a 9-7 extra-inning victory over South Atlantic Conference leader Anderson University on Saturday in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader.
Jones also doubled and scored in the sixth inning of game two to tie that contest at 2-all, but Anderson's Cailah Niles delivered a walk-off double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to drive in the winning run in a 3-2 victory for the Trojans.
The split left Barton with a record of 6-13, while Anderson moved to 17-5 on the year.
Game 1 – Barton 9, Anderson 7 (10 inn.)
With the game tied at 7-all, Barton started the 10th with Megan Kelly placed on second base under the international tiebreaker. The junior advanced to third on a groundout by Taylor Bowden and scored the go-ahead run on a single through the left side by Jones, a resident of Huntersville, N.C.
Bowden and Jones both moved up a base on a wild pitch by Anderson reliever Randee Bettis (2-1), and Rachel Jordan walked to load the bases, still with no one out.
Barton had already stranded three runners on base in the sixth inning with little to show for it, and nearly came away with nothing this time. Lauren Rudesheim, who had started the game for the Trojans, returned to the mound and got two quick outs. However, Barton junior Sydney Speight came through with a single to center, driving in Bowden with an important insurance run.
Rudesheim retired the next batter, leaving three runners stranded for Barton once more. The Lady Bulldog left a total of 17 runners on base in the contest. But Anderson left 13 on base too, as Barton starter Liz White was able to work out of a number of jams in the game.
White (4-7), who has now won three of her last four decisions, appeared to be in trouble after surrendering four hits and issuing three walks in the second inning alone, leading to five runs for the Trojans. However, White did not give up another hit until the Anderson seventh.
Barton, which had taken an early 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI bunt by Jones, immediately responded to Anderson's big inning with one of its own in the top of the third.
Crystal Britton and Kelly led off the inning with singles, and Britton scored when the Trojans misplayed Bowden's sacrifice bunt. Jones followed with an RBI groundout to plate Kelly with the second run of the frame, and Jordan added an RBI single to left-center to pull BC within one at 5-4.
In the top of the sixth, an infield single by Speight, an error by Anderson and a single by Britton loaded the bases with no one out. The Trojans threw one runner out at the plate, but Bowden followed with an infield single to short to drive in Speight and tie the game at 5-all.
Barton still had the bases loaded and just one out, but Bettis, who had taken over for Rudesheim in the fourth, collected a strikeout and a foulout to left to prevent any more damage by the Lady Bulldogs.
Both teams threatened in the seventh, as White doubled with one out and reached third before being stranded for Barton. The Trojans produced two hits in the bottom half of the frame, but White escaped after getting a foulout to the catcher to end the inning.
A single by Jones scored Barton's tiebreaker runner, Britton, in the eighth to put BC up 6-5, and a pair of walks loaded the bases with just one out. However, Anderson threw out runners at both third and home on a grounder to short by White for an inning-ending double play.
The Trojans got a one-out single up the middle by Carli Hurtado to tie the game at 6-all in the bottom of the eighth. Barton nearly failed to score in the ninth, but a two-out throwing error by the pitcher gave the Lady Bulldogs a run and a 7-6 advantage. White quickly got two outs in the Anderson ninth, but Rachel Barefield delivered a two-out single to tie the game once more at 7-all and send the game to the decisive 10th.
Jones, Jordan and Speight each had two of Barton's 12 hits in the game, while Hurtado and Rudesheim each had two of Anderson's nine hits.
White walked eight and struck out seven in the complete-game victory.
Game 2 – Anderson 3, Barton 2
Trailing 2-1, Jones led off the Barton sixth with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan and scored on a two-out single up the middle by Samantha Bass to tie the game at 2-all.
Anderson produced a single and a walk in the bottom of the frame, but Jones, also the pitcher for game two, stranded both runners to keep the score tied.
Kelly beat out an infield single to short with two outs in the seventh, then attempted to swipe her 10th stolen base of the season and move into scoring position, but Niles threw out Kelly to end the inning. It marked just the second time all year Kelly had been caught stealing.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Anderson's leadoff hitter, Hurtado, reached base on a single to left. Jones got an important second out on a foulout to third by Molly Child, who was 3-for-3 in the game at the time.
However, Niles drilled a ball into the gap in left-center, allowing the speedy Hurtado to easily score from first with the game-winning run.
It was the second RBI double of the game for Niles, who had laced a ball to the same spot in the first inning after Child had tripled to center.
The Trojans added another run in the second inning when Michaela Smith singled and later scored on a single back up the middle by Child.
Barton got a run back in the top of the third after Brittany Jacobs led off the frame with a single to right, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a double to right-center by Kelly.
The Lady Bulldogs threatened again in the fourth when Jordan was hit by a pitch and White singled to lead off the inning. However, Rudesheim (9-2) retired the next three batters to escape unscathed.
Rudesheim scattered seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out two in the complete-game effort. Kelly and White each had two of the seven hits for Barton.
Jones (2-5) surrendered eight hits, walked two and struck out one while also going the distance. Five of those hits were produced by Child and Niles.
Barton will return home Monday for a 2 p.m. battle with Peach Belt Conference power Francis Marion University (19-9).
