HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The UNC Pembroke softball team played to its first draw since 2002 Wednesday at Coker after dropping the opening game of the doubleheader on a walk-off home run.
The Braves (1-3-1) fell 7-5 in the first game to the Cobras (5-0-1) before game two was declared an 8-8 tie when darkness fell on Saleeby-Stoakes Field. The facility does not have lights. It's UNCP's first tie since a 6-6 draw at Winston-Salem State on Feb. 22, 2002.
The opening contest was a back-and-forth affair, with Coker striking first in the bottom of the first inning to stake claim to a 1-0 lead. The Braves immediately answered, plating two runs in the top of the second on RBI singles off the bats of Toni Nelson and Lexie Coxe.
The Black & Gold did not let up with a one-run advantage, tacking on two more runs in the third, when Taylor Gerhart and Savannah Melvin both drove in a run for a 4-1 UNCP lead.
The Cobras wasted no time mounting a comeback, scratching across four runs in the bottom of the third to regain the lead, 5-4.
After a scoreless fourth, Gerhart ripped a one-out double in the Braves' fifth and scored when Abbey Walters switched places on a double of her own to knot the game at five.
Still 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Coker smacked a one-out double and followed that with a two-run walk-off home run to hand the Braves their third loss of the season.
UNCP pitcher Katie Saunders dropped to 1-2 this season, allowing seven runs on 11 hits over 6.1 innings. The righty struck out three Cobras and walked one. Saunders' ERA rose to 3.10 in 20.1 innings pitched.
The Braves rattled off 10 hits in the opening game, three of those from Abbey Walters, who went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Gerhart and Nelson were both 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored, while Melvin, Coxe and Morgan Davis all tallied one hit apiece for the Black & Gold. Jamie Johnson drew a walk, stole two bases and scored a run.
The Braves and Cobras had battled to an 8-8 score after seven frames in game two before the game was halted in the top of the eighth. UNCP had runners on second and third with one out when play was stopped.
UNCP opened the game with seven unanswered runs to hold a 7-0 advantage after two innings. The teams exchanged runs in the third and fourth, giving the Braves an 8-1 lead into the fifth.
That's when the Cobras bats woke up, scoring five runs in the fifth and a run apiece in the sixth and seventh to send the game to extras.
Both squads racked up 13 hits in the contest, but neither side was spectacular in the field, as UNCP committed four errors and Coker was charged with three miscues.
Freshman Taylor Strickland got her second-career start, going all seven innings in the circle for the Braves. She surrendered eight runs (six earned) on 13 hits, while striking out one and walking two. The second unearned run proved costly, as the tying run scored in the seventh after an error earlier in the inning.
Whitney Jackson had a team-high three hits, going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Johnson, Nelson and Walters all added two hits and four other Braves joined the hit parade with one. Gerhart drove in three runs and Walters tacked on two RBIs. Johnson stole two more bases to bring her season total to eight.
The Braves are back in action Saturday, a road doubleheader with Catawba at 1 and 3 p.m. UNCP will return home Sunday with games against St. Augustine at 2 and 4 p.m. at LRA Field.
