Wingate, N.C.----The visiting Catawba College Indians won the opening game of Friday's doubleheader 6-3, while rallying for a 2-1 victory in game two against Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference softball action. The Indians improve to 23-15 overall and 12-8 in the SAC, while Wingate falls to 24-18 overall and 11-9 in the conference.
Game One: Catawba 6, Wingate 3Emily Huneycutt and
Holli Chandler each drove in a pair of runs to lead the Catawba attack in game one.
Taylor Adams added an RBI and a run scored for the Indians, while
Delane Smith also drove in a run.
Senior shortstop
Alexis Burrell (Chesapeake, Va.) had a homer and two RBI to lead the Wingate attack. Junior catcher
Taylor Laskey (Cherryville, N.C.) was two-for-three with two runs scored for the Bulldogs.
Catawba took a two-run lead in the second. The first two hitters reached on back-to-back errors, while Chandler's two-run single made it 2-0.
The Indians plated four more runs in the third. Adams plated the first run with an RBI double, while Huneycutt added a two-run double. Smith followed with an RBI single to make it 6-0.
Wingate got on the board in the fourth when Laskey started the inning with a single, then went to second on a Burrell single. The Bulldogs scored on a Catawba error to make it 6-1.
Wingate cut the lead to three in the sixth. Laskey again started the inning with a single, while Burrell followed by connecting on her 14th homer of the season, a towering two-run shot over the scoreboard in left to make it 6-3.
Carley Tysinger got the win, moving to 18-9. She allowed three runs on four hits in seven innings, striking out nine and walking one. Junior right-hander
Stacey Houser (Mooresville, N.C.) took the loss, allowing four earned runs in three innings of work to fall to 17-12. Senior right-hander
Miranda Paul (Virginia Beach, Va.) tossed four shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit.
Game Two: Catawba 2, Wingate 1Gina Gerone was two-for-four with a homer to lead the Catawba attack in game two. Chandler went one-for-one with a run scored for the Indians.
Laskey went one-for-three with an RBI to lead the Wingate offense.
Wingate got on the board in the third, putting runners at the corners with no outs via a walk and an error. Laskey drove home the run with an RBI single through the left side.
Catawba tied the game in the sixth when Gerone led off the frame with a solo homer to left, making it 1-1.
The Indians took the lead in the seventh. Chandler drew a walk to start the inning.
Kristen Stinnard then laid down a sacrifice bunt and was thrown out at first. Chandler moved to second on the play and then headed towards third. The throw got away on the play, allowing Chandler to score the go-ahead run on the error.
Tysinger picked up her second win of the day and 19th of the year, allowing a run on three hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking two. Houser took the loss, allowing one earned run on seven hits in seven innings, striking out one and walking four.
Wingate is back in action Saturday, traveling to Lincoln Memorial for a doubleheader at 2 p.m.
