BOX SCORE

Marshville, N.C.----Wingate University survived a late rally by Catawba College to stay alive in the elimination bracket of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference softball tournament on Friday afternoon at Forest Hills High School. The Bulldogs claimed an 8-7 win to improve to 34-14 overall. The Catawba Indians end their season at 29-24 overall.

Catawba grabbed the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first. Senior shortstop Kathryn Geouge (Canton, N.C.) led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. She scored on a two-out single by senior second baseman Allie Marshall (Pleasant Garden, N.C.). The 1-0 edge would be the only lead for the Indians as Wingate scored twice in the second, picked up two more in the third and scored three in the fourth to go up 7-2.

Four straight two-out hits in the second put Wingate on top and sophomore utility player Joya Wortham (Creedmoor, N.C.) added a two-out, two-run double in the third for a 4-2 lead. Bulldog freshman first baseman Brittany Loudermilt (Stony Point, N.C.) picked up a two-run single with two outs in the fourth to stretch the advantage to 7-2. Catawba began to rally back, but came up a run short.

The Indians got two runs back in their fourth on a pinch-hit single by senior Kristyn Funderburke (Kings Mountain, N.C.) and a RBI from Geouge. Wingate got one more two-out RBI in the sixth before the final Catawba push in the seventh.

Senior outfielder Callie Gordy (Oak Ridge, N.C.) and junior outfielder Carly Sabat (Warren, Ohio) opened the Catawba seventh with singles before Marshall popped up. Senior first baseman Brittney Thornburg (Kings Mountain, N.C.) reached on an error that forced in a run and freshman catcher Tara Gibbs (Waynesville, N.C.) followed with a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 8-6.

Sophomore designated player Alli Justice (Bishopville, Md.) got home the final Indian run with a single, but freshman third baseman Mollie Kovalcin (Latrobe, Pa.) lined out to third to end the game. Justice and Gordy led the 10-hit Catawba attack with two hits each.

Wingate collected 12 hits, three each by Loudermilt and senior outfielder LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.). Loudermilt drove in three runs. Wortham had two hits and two RBI. The Bulldogs overcame six errors with junior pitcher Allison Smith (Daleville, Va.) getting the win in relief. She allowed five runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings. Smith struck out three and walked one.

(Special thanks to Catawba SID Jim Lewis for providing this story.)