Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – Barton College banged out 14 hits in winning the first game of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader against Emmanuel College on Sunday, 9-1, but found hits scarce in the nightcap, managing just three in a 2-1 loss.
The split left the Lady Bulldogs 4-9 on the season and 1-3 in league play. The Lions moved to 9-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
Junior Kelsie Conner went 4-for-6 in the twinbill with three RBI for the Barton offense, while senior Liz White picked up the pitching win in game one with a four-hitter.
Game 1: Barton 9, Emmanuel 1 (5 inn.)
Emmanuel scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. Cheyenne Galloway doubled with one out and scored two batters later on a two-out RBI single to right field by Madison Franklin.
From that point on, White (2-6) gave up just two more hits to the Lions. She walked two and struck out five.
Barton tied the game at 1-all in the top of the second when Rachel Jordan delivered a leadoff double down the left field line and later scored on an RBI single to short by Conner.
The Lady Bulldogs took the lead in the top of the third on a two-out, two-run single to center by Conner. Taylor Bowden and Hannah Jones had started the inning with consecutive singles.
Megan Kelly started a two-out rally for Barton in the fourth with a double down the left field line, and Bowden followed with an RBI single down the right field line. Jones also singled down the right field line, and both runners later scored on a two-run double by Jordan.
Barton brought the eight-run rule into play by tacking on three more runs in the fifth on five hits, including an RBI single by Samantha Bass and a two-run single by Jones.
Game 2: Emmanuel 2, Barton 1
All the scoring in the game was produced in the first inning. Barton plated its run when Kelly led off the game with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on an RBI grounder to short by Bowden.
Emmanuel responded in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff single by Kara Hembree, an RBI double two batters later by Kalen Calloway, and another double with two outs by Kirsten Hill.
Lions starter Erin Harden (7-1) struck out the next five Barton batters in a row, and retired 10 straight overall before Sydney Speight reached on an error at third base with one out in the fifth. Speight advanced to second on a wild pitch and attempted to score on a two-out single by Bass, but she was gunned down at the plate on a throw from center field by Hembree.
Barton threatened one last time in the seventh after White doubled with one out and moved to third on a single by Conner. However, Speight hit a liner to short and White was caught off the bag for a game-ending double play.
Harden walked just one and struck out nine in her complete-game three-hitter.
Jones (2-2) suffered a hard-luck pitching loss for Barton. The freshman allowed just five hits and the two runs, walking one and striking out one.
Barton will return home to play a non-conference doubleheader with Catawba College on Wednesday before hitting the road again for a league matchup at Pfeiffer University on Friday.
