Game One Box Score Game Two Box Score
Hartsville, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs rallied for a 7-4 win in game two to earn a split in Sunday’s doubleheader at Coker College in NCAA Division II softball action. The Cobras won the first game 1-0. The Bulldogs are now 3-1 on the year, while Coker moves to 1-1.
Game One: Coker 1, Wingate 0
The Bulldogs out-hit the Cobras 9-3 in the first game, but left 10 runners on base. Junior outfielder Jessica McCraw (Waxhaw, N.C.), senior infielder Leyila Myers (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore catcher Brittany Barrineau (Monroe, N.C.) had two hits each for the Bulldogs.
The Cobras scored the game’s lone run in the sixth inning. Senior infielder Julia Nelson-Abbot (Evans, Ga.) would reach and advance to second base on an error to start the inning. She moved to third on a sacrifice, then scored on an RBI single from junior outfielder Haleigh Rogers (Ward, S.C.).
Junior left-hander Sydney Greenwalt (Edwardsville, Ill.) picked up the win for the Cobras. She went the distance, allowing nine hits while striking out four and walking two. Wingate junior right-hander Brittany Blankenship (Midlothian, Va.) took the tough loss. She allowed one unearned run and three hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking zero. Blankenship falls to 1-1 on the year.
Game Two: Wingate 7, Coker 4
The Bulldogs scored seven unanswered runs to overcome a 4-0 deficit and salvage a split. Barrineau provided the big blow with a three-run homer. Senior infielder Deb Grijalva (San Jose, Calif.) was two-for-two with a homer and two RBI for the Bulldogs. Coker senior infielder Brittany Owens (Johnsonville, S.C.) was two-for-four with two RBI to lead the Cobras.
Coker plated a pair of runs in the first inning when Owens reached on a two-base error. The Cobras added two more runs in the third. An RBI single from senior infielder Anna Oswald (Lexington, S.C.) made it 3-0. Coker scored another run on a wild pitch to take a four-run lead.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the fourth. Freshman first baseman Brittany Loudermilt (Stony Point, N.C.) got it started with an RBI double. Grijalva followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Myers, making it 4-2.
Wingate cut the lead to one when junior infielder Gina Ager (Columbia, Md.) singled to start the fifth inning. She would go to third on a single from junior designated player Emily Chavis (Berkeley Lake, Ga.), then score on a passed ball to cut the lead to one.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the sixth on a towering solo homer from Grijalva, her first of the year.
Wingate would get two runners on in the top of the seventh, via a hit and an error to set up Barrineau. The sophomore belted her first homer as a Bulldog over the scoreboard in left center to give Wingate a 7-4 lead.
Junior right-hander Allison Smith (Daleville, Va.) got the win for the Bulldogs. She followed her no-hitter on Thursday by allowing one earned run on six hits in seven innings of work while striking out 11. Greenwalt took the loss for the Cobras. She allowed five runs (two earned) in three innings of work while striking out three.
The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday, traveling to Queens (N.C.) for a 5 p.m. start. Wingate returns home Friday for a doubleheader against Erskine, starting at 2 p.m.
