WILSON, N.C. – Barton (10-2) and Frostburg State (3-6) split an NCAA Division II softball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Jeffries Field. The Bobcats won the first contest by a 5-2 score while the Bulldogs took the nightcap, 2-1, to salvage the split. Both games went eight innings.
Game One – Frostburg State 5, Barton 2 (eight innings)
The Bobcats broke a two-all tie with three runs in the top of the eighth inning highlighted by Samara Funk's (Cumberland, Md.) run-scoring single and capped off by Jayla Hill's (Ruther Glen, Va.) two-run home run.
Hill finished with two home runs in the contest while Sydney Theobald (Dayton, Ohio) (2-3) earned the win after going the distance for the Bobcats.
Barton sophomore
Rilee Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) (3-2) also threw a complete game while striking out seven batters in the hard-luck loss. Senior catcher
McCrae Knapp (Hertford, N.C.) drove in a pair of runs for the Bulldogs.
Game Two – Barton 2, Frostburg State 1 (eight innings)
Barton sophomore outfielder
Savannah Branch (Shallotte, N.C.) hit a walk-off, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning to help the Bulldogs salvage the split.
Junior third baseman
Lindsey Massengill (Pine Level, N.C.), who finished with three hits, forced extra innings with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
Barton junior
AnnaKate Gilchrist (Clayton, N.C.) (2-0) pitched the last three innings and was credited with the win while Katie Chapple (Easton, Md.) (1-3) suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run and 10 strikeouts in the complete game. Hill hit her third home run of the day in the sixth inning.
Barton hits the road for the first time this season when the Bulldogs face Malone (3:30 p.m.) and Goldey-Beacom (5:30 p.m.) on Wednesday at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in Little River, S.C. Frostburg State takes on Virginia State in Petersburg, Va., on Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m.
