Tusculum College and Queens University of Charlotte split a
South Atlantic Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday
afternoon at Red Edmonds Field. The Pioneers won the opener 10-2 in
five innings, while the Royals (12-14, 1-5 SAC) came back for a 2-1
win in the nightcap to salvage the split.
The Pioneers (16-18, 2-4 SAC) return to action Tuesday afternoon at
Brevard in a SAC doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
Game 1: Tusculum 10, Queens 2 (5 innings)
(Box
Score)
The Pioneers scored four runs in the first inning to take an early
lead, then added five runs in the fifth to end the game via the
eight-run rule. Tusculum had 11 hits in the game, including six
extra-base hits, while Kelly King (11-8) pitched out of trouble in
the third and fourth innings to earn the victory.
Courtney Hutcherson and Alix Kruel each went 2-for-3 with a double
and triple for the Pioneers, while Kaytlin Stroinski added her
fourth home run of the season during the decisive fifth-inning
outburst. Tavi Parris, Nicole Ball and Miranda Beeler also went
2-for-3 for Tusculum, whose 10 runs were a season high.
The Pioneers jumped on Royals starter Kaitlyn Bodine for four runs
in the bottom of the first. Beeler reached on a single with one out
and stole second, then after a walk to Stroinski a double from
Hutcherson gave the Pioneers a quick 1-0 lead. Parris then drove
home Stroinski with a bunt single, and two more runs scored later
in the inning as a throw pulled the first baseman off the bag,
allowing Parris and Hutcherson to score for a 4-0 lead.
Tusculum tacked on a run in the second as Kruel led off with a
triple and scored on an infield single by Beeler, but Queens came
back with two runs in the third on a sacrifice fly by Bodine and an
RBI single from Whitney Britt. However, King got out of further
trouble by getting a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the
frame.
Queens threatened again in the fourth as runners reached second and
third with two outs, but King got Bodine out on a ground ball to
Kruel at second to keep the Tusculum lead at 5-2.
The Pioneers put the game away in the bottom of the fifth as
Stroinski led off with a homer to extend the lead to 6-2, followed
by a triple from Hutcherson, a double by Parris and a single from
Ball to complete the "reverse cycle" and give Tusculum a 7-2 lead.
After a hit batter loaded the bases, Kruel unloaded the bags and
ended the game with a double to left-center off reliever Lyndey
McCurry.
Kruel finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in for the Pioneers,
while Parris had two RBIs and two runs scored. Stroinski also
scored a pair of runs in the opener for Tusculum. Queens had nine
hits as a team in the game, led by 2-for-3 performances from
Micaela Hayes and Ashton Whitaker.
Bodine (3-5) allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits in
four-plus innings for the Royals, striking out four and walking
one. King struck out three and did not walk a batter in her 18th
complete game in as many starts for the Pioneers.
Game 2: Queens 2, Tusculum 1
(Box
Score)
The Pioneers were shut down by Royals starter Ashley Rollins (3-5),
who allowed one run on five hits and struck out four. Rollins
retired the first seven batters she faced and pitched out of jams
in the third and fifth innings to earn the win. Sixteen of the 21
outs recorded by Rollins were in the air, with the only ground-ball
out coming on a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning.
Queens scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth as Whitaker
led off with a double and pinch-runner Danielle McHugh scored on a
two-out double from Amanda Meade. The Royals had eight hits in the
game, including two from Taylor Rosenbalm, and had four extra-base
hits in the contest.
Carolyn Williamson and Kruel led the Pioneers at the plate, as
Williamson was 2-for-4 with Tusculum's lone RBI and Kruel had two
doubles and scored the only run in the bottom of the fifth.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Bodine hit
a one-out solo home run to deep center field off Pioneer starter
Eliza Davis. Queens added two more hits and a walk in the inning
but Davis retired Meade on a line drive to Williamson in left for
the final out.
Tusculum was held without a baserunner until the bottom of the
third, when Katie Brennan reached on an infield single to third
with one out. Kruel then doubled to left to put runners on second
and third with one out and Williamson reached on a single to
Rollins to load the bases. However, a popup to shallow left and a
strikeout ended the inning and kept the Royals on top 1-0.
In the fifth, Kruel doubled with two outs and scored on a single to
left by Williamson to tie the game at 1-1, but Rollins again came
through with a strikeout with two runners on base to preserve the
tie. Queens scored the decisive run in the sixth as Whitaker
reached on a leadoff double and Meade hit a two-out double off
reliever Rachel Medley to allow the go-ahead run to score.
Tusculum threatened again in the sixth when Hutcherson led off with
a walk and moved up on a bunt by Parris, only to strand the runner
on back-to-back infield popups. The Pioneers went in order in the
seventh, helped by a fine running catch in left-center by Britt on
Kruel's bid for a third double in the game and fifth of the
day.
Davis (2-6) allowed six hits and two runs in five-plus innings for
the Pioneers, striking out two and walking a pair. Medley allowed
two hits in two scoreless innings of relief.