SAC Softball Championship Central

Rock Hill, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs, winners of six straight and 11 of their last 12, will be the seven seed in this week’s Food Lion SAC softball tournament, which begins Thursday in Salisbury, N.C. on the campus of Catawba College. Wingate won eight of its last 10 SAC contests to finish 9-9 in league play. The Bulldogs registered three sweeps last week, including conference sweeps over Catawba and Mars Hill. Wingate enters the SAC Tournament at 29-18-1 overall. The Bulldogs will face the second-seeded Trojans of Anderson, who enters the tournament 35-11 overall and 12-6 in the SAC.

Wingate and Anderson will meet in the third game on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. The winner returns to action on Friday at 9 a.m. against the Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Mars Hill winner. The loser plays the loser of the Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Mars Hill contest Friday at 11:30 a.m.

The Bulldogs entered the doubleheader at then-first-place Anderson on March 27 with a 1-7 conference record. Wingate defeated the Trojans 4-3, getting a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth from senior outfielder Kasey Pendley (Marion, N.C.). Wingate would then pile up 19 runs in a doubleheader sweep against Brevard. Freshman catcher Taylor Laskey (Cherryville, N.C.) had a double, homer and seven RBI in the doubleheader.

The Bulldogs racked up 23 hits in a doubleheader split at eventual regular season SAC champion Tusculum. Laskey added another homer, while senior first baseman Brittany Loudermilt (Stony Point, N.C.), senior outfielder Kelsey Maffucci (Rockledge, Fla.) and junior infielder Hayley Whitley (Monroe, N.C.) drove in two runs each in the 8-4 victory. Wingate returned home to take two from Catawba, with freshman right-hander Stacey Houser (Mooresville, N.C.) tossing all 14 innings on the afternoon without allowing an earned run. Sophomore designated player Kayla Saliga (Asheboro, N.C.) blasted a walk-off two-run homer in the seventh inning of game one for the 2-0 win. Maffucci had a double and two RBI in the game two victory.

The Bulldogs closed out the conference regular season on Saturday with a sweep over Mars Hill. Laskey did all of the damage in game one with two homers and three RBI in the 3-2 win. Wingate trailed 2-1 in the sixth when Laskey hit the go-ahead two-run shot to center. Pendley’s first career homer was a grand slam, coming in game two against Mars Hill in the 9-6 Senior Day win. Saliga added a double and two RBI. Wingate capped its regular season Sunday with a sweep at Limestone. Loudermilt and Laskey homered in the 4-2 game one victory, with Maffucci delivering the go-ahead RBI triple in the seventh inning. Saliga had a homer and three RBI in the 12-5 game two win. Laskey and sophomore shortstop Alexis Burrell (Chesapeake, Va.) added three hits and three RBI each.

Maffucci leads the Bulldogs and ranks 10th in the SAC with a .355 batting average. She has two homers, three triples and six doubles, driving in 16 runs while scoring 29. Burrell is hitting .326 with a team-best nine homers, 10 doubles and 34 RBI. She ranks fourth in the SAC in homers, eighth in doubles and 10th in RBI. Saliga is hitting .321 in 17 starts, with three homers, five doubles and 13 RBI. Whitley is hitting .298, ranking second on the team with 32 RBI. Laskey is hitting .297 while ranking second with seven homers and eight doubles.

Houser has tossed a league-best 215 1/3 innings this season, while also leading the SAC with 29 complete games. She is 20-10 on the year, ranking second in the conference in wins and fourth with a 1.72 ERA. Houser is third with 127 strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Miranda Paul (Virginia Beach, Va.) is 9-8 with a 2.42 ERA on the season. She has 14 complete games and four shutouts, compiling 55 strikeouts in 110 innings of work.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Wingate University, ranked as the 6th “best value” in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves nearly 2,700 students on three campuses in Wingate, Matthews and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past six years.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing private colleges in the 2000’s with 52 selections. Among North Carolina’s colleges and universities, Wingate’s 52 Academic All-America® honorees is second (to Duke University) during this millennium. Wingate’s 61 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.