COLD NIGHT
LADY LIONS' OFFENSE CHILLED IN DOUBLEHEADER LOSS
4/9/2010 11:25:42 PM
It felt like football weather Friday night, when Concord’s Softball team hosted Davis & Elkins.
And, indeed, there was a lot of hitting.
Unfortunately, there just wasn't much of it from the Lady Lions.
On a chilly, brisk, windy night, the visiting Senators outhit Concord 23-6 in sweeping their WVIAC doubleheader, 2-1 and 13-1 (5 innings).
GAME ONE
Concord got the leadoff hitter on base in each of the first three innings, but managed only one run – a rocket-shot solo home run to left field by Stephanie Harper in the 2nd inning, which gave the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
The advantage held until the top of the 6th, when CU starting pitcher Tamara Smith got herself into trouble.
The freshman right-hander issued back-to-back walks to Lauren Childs and Jennie Finafrock to start the inning. Smith got Devony Pugh to pop out to shortstop Alex Brown, but then gave up a game-tying single to Bridget Ours. Kortne Bacca followed with a double to center to score Finafrock and put D&E up 2-1.
The Lady Lions had a golden opportunity to score in the bottom of the 6th, loading the bases with nobody out. But Senators’ pitcher Danielle Vineyard got Harper to ground into a 1-2-3 double play, then induced Katie Billingslea to ground out to second to end the threat.
Smith struck out seven, but walked four and hit a batter in taking the loss. Vineyard walked just two and struck out four in getting the win.
| GAME ONE |
R |
H |
E |
LOB |
| Davis & Elkins |
2 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
| Concord |
1 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
GAME TWO
Walks and command problems hurt the Concord pitching staff again, and helped trigger a D&E rally in the top of the 1st.
Vineyard led off by drawing a full-count walk off CU starter Kristen McClure, advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored on two wild pitches.
McClure got the next two batters out, but walked Ours and gave up a single to Kortne Bacca. Pugh then lashed a double just inside the line in right, scoring two runs and pushing the D&E lead to 3-0.
The Lady Lions had another bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the 2nd, filling the bases with one out, but managed just one run on Samantha Clement’s infield single.
D&E took over the game in the top of the 4th, scoring six times – four on Ours’ grand-slam home run to right center – to lead 9-1.
The Senators added four more runs in the 5th. The first run scored on a wild pitch, the second on a CU throwing error, and the last two on RBI doubles from Ours and Bacca.
The game ended after five innings on the eight-run rule.
Concord went through three pitchers in the abbreviated game, but D&E (13-23, 6-6 WVIAC) needed only one. Britne Bacca had occasional control problems, walking six, but allowed only two hits and struck out nine to get the complete-game victory.
| GAME TWO |
R |
H |
E |
LOB |
| Davis & Elkins |
13 |
17 |
0 |
6 |
| Concord |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
(5 Innings)
The Lady Lions (16-15, 4-8 WVIAC) continue a busy weekend with a doubleheader against Shepherd on Saturday, April 10th, at 1:00 pm EDT in Athens.