WILSON, N.C. – The Barton softball team (20-2, 7-0) remained the lone unbeaten team in Conference Carolinas play with a doubleheader sweep of Converse (1-29, 0-6), 8-7 and 9-1, Sunday afternoon at Jeffries Field.
Game One – Barton 8, Converse 7
Barton junior third baseman
Lindsey Massengill (Pine Level, N.C.) drove in senior catcher
Mikayla Rose (Beaufort, N.C.) with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Bulldogs rallied with two runs in the frame to take the win.
Rose tied the score with an RBI triple in the inning as Barton let a 6-1 lead after four innings disappear. Massengill and freshman pitcher and designated pitcher
Gracelyn Massey (Princeton, N.C.) both drove in a pair of runs while junior
AnnaKate Gilchrist (Clayton, N.C.) improved to 3-0 after earning the win in relief.
Converse's Maggie Griffis (Graniteville, S.C.) drove in three runs to lead the visitors but Serrah Ballard (Lancaster, S.C.) (0-11) suffered the loss. Ballard did finish with two hits and two runs batted in at the plate.
Game Two – Barton 9, Converse 1 (five innings)
Barton junior second baseman
Emily Bell (Bunn, N.C.), who finished with three hits and an RBI in the first game, hit a two-run home run in the first inning as the Bulldogs run-ruled the Valkyries and handed the visitors their seventh straight setback.
Sophomore outfielder
Savannah Branch (Shallotte, N.C.) drove in three runs and ended the contest with a two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth inning for the Bulldogs. Barton freshman
Miranda Holmes (Godwin, N.C.) improved to 8-0 on the year after allowing just one unearned run with six strikeouts in the complete game victory.
Converse's Ryan Finazzo (Annapolis, Md.) drove in a run with a double while Maggie Griffis (Graniteville, S.C.) (1-8) was tagged with the loss.
Barton next travels to Mount Olive, N.C., to take on rival Mount Olive in a league doubleheader beginning at 5:00 p.m., while Converse returns home to host Lees-McRae at 1:00 p.m., on Tuesday.
