Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – The Barton College softball team pounded out 28 hits in cruising to a pair of non-conference victories at Elizabeth City State University on Sunday, taking the opener 10-2 and the nightcap 12-2 in five innings.
Junior Kelsie Conner went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and six RBI, and senior Rachel Jordan also drove in six runs to pace the offense for Barton (17-20).
Freshman pitcher Hannah Jones limited ECSU (3-17) to just four hits in game one, and junior transfer Carolina Merrill earned her first win as a Lady Bulldog in the second contest after scattering eight hits.
Game 1 – Barton 10, Elizabeth City State 2
Barton pounded out a season-high 17 hits in the opener, with leadoff hitter Crystal Britton going 4-for-5.
Jones helped herself at the plate with three hits and three RBI, while Jordan and Conner each drove in a pair of runs.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning on three hits and a pair of Lady Viking errors. Jones had an RBI groundout in the frame and Ashley Burkett added an RBI single.
Barton added another run in the second inning when Kaitlin Staley reached on a leadoff single and later scored on an infield single by Jones.
Singles by Britton, Sydney Speight and Jones loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, and Conner was hit by a pitch to force in BC's sixth run of the contest.
The Lady Vikings closed the gap in the bottom of the fourth by scoring their only two runs of the game. A pair of singles and a hit batsman loaded the bases. One run scored on a two-out error, and the other was forced home on a walk, cutting Barton's lead to 6-2,
Jones (7-9) did not give up an earned run, walked three and struck out four in gaining the victory.
The Lady Bulldogs got one of those runs back in the fifth when Staley reached on an infield single and later scored on a double-steal.
Barton tacked on three more runs in the seventh on four hits and two ECSU errors. Jones and Conner both had RBI singles in the inning.
Game 2 – Barton 12, Elizabeth City State 2 (5 inn.)
Jordan produced a two-out RBI single in the first inning, then came home on Conner's first home run of the game, a blast to left-center field.
Conner went deep again an inning later, capping off a six-run second inning with a two-run shot to left, her fourth of the season. Jordan had just cleared the bases in front of her with a three-run single.
Briana Jackson started the scoring in the second by driving in Burkett with the first run of the frame. Burkett had reached third following a double by freshman Samantha Santmyers, her first collegiate hit.
The Lady Bulldogs increased their lead to 12-0 in the third on two ECSU errors and a pair of hits, including an RBI single by Sydney Burton.
Elizabeth City State had loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning with no one out, but Merrill (1-1) escaped without giving up a run.
The Lady Vikings finally broke through in the fourth, using two hits, an error and an RBI groundout by Kelsey White to plate a run.
White also accounted for Elizabeth City State's other run in the fifth, an RBI single down the left field line.
Merrill walked one and struck out a pair in getting her first Barton win.
Barton won big despite playing for the third straight day and the fourth time in the past five days. The Lady Bulldogs will get a day off on Monday before returning to the field on Tuesday for a 2 p.m. home doubleheader against St. Andrews University.
