PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke softball team halved a road doubleheader at Pfeiffer Wednesday afternoon, taking the first game 4-2 in extra innings before falling in an 8-7 thriller in game two at Jack Ingram Field.
The Braves are now 2-4-1 this season and Pfeiffer moves to 4-4. UNCP has won 22 of the 30 all-time meetings with the Falcons.
Pfeiffer opened the scoring in game one, plating a run in the first to take an early 1-0 lead. The Black & Gold responded in the next half inning when Taylor Gerhart led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Savannah Melvin single to knot the game at 1-1.
The pitchers took control of the game over the next four innings, as both teams were unable to produce a run in innings three through six.
It was the Braves that broke through in the seventh when Haleigh Epperson led off with a walk and eventually scored on Gerhart's second RBI single.
One out from victory in the bottom of the seventh, UNCP hurler Katie Saunders surrendered a Falcon solo home run to send the game to extras.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Melvin was placed on second to start the eighth. After a strikeout and a groundout, Lexie Coxe ripped a two-out RBI single up the middle to score Melvin and give the Braves a 3-2 advantage. Coxe would then come around to score on a Jamie Johnson single to extend the UNCP lead to 4-2.
After giving up a leadoff single in the Falcon eighth, Saunders set the next three batters down to preserve the Black & Gold victory.
The win gives head coach Brittany Bennett her 50th at the helm of UNCP and is now just 12 victories behind sixth-most in school history.
Saunders tallied her second victory on the year to move to 2-2. She tossed her fourth-consecutive complete game, allowing two runs and seven hits. The senior struck out four Falcons and did not walk a batter.
Gerhart, Toni Nelson and Abbey Walters all contributed two hits to the effort, including the lone extra-base hit for UNCP, a Walters double. Johnson, Gerhart and Melvin all swiped a bag and Johnson now has a team-leading seven stolen bases.
Game two was a back-and-forth affair, with the Braves holding leads of 4-0 and 6-4 at points before succumbing to Pfeiffer.
UNCP jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to a Gerhart sacrifice bunt with Johnson on third. The Black & Gold tacked on three more runs in the second when Coxe and Whitney Jackson both plated runs and Morgan Davis scored on an error.
The next four runs went in favor of the Falcons, two each in the third and fourth. The Braves took their second lead of the game in the fifth when Toni Nelson hit her first home run of the season, a one-out blast to center field, scoring Abbey Walters.
Saunders surrendered her second and third home runs of the day in the bottom of the fifth, a two-run shot followed by a solo blast to put Pfeiffer back in front, 7-6. The Falcons tacked another run on in the sixth to take an 8-6 lead into the final frame.
Gerhart led off the seventh with her second home run of the season to put some life back in the UNCP dugout. But three of the next four Black & Gold hitters were retired, locking up the Pfeiffer victory.
Taylor Strickland got the start in the circle for UNCP, pitching three innings and allowing two runs on nine hits. Saunders got the call in relief for the first time this season, tossing two innings of five-run ball on five hits. Walters saw her first action on the rubber in the sixth, surrendering an unearned run on one hit. Saunders and Walters both struck out one Falcon.
Walters added another two hits, both doubles, in game two, upping her team-high batting average to an even .500. Melvin and Davis both notched two hits, as well. Gerhart's two RBI give her a team-leading 10 on the season.
The Braves head home for a Saturday doubleheader with Glenville State at LRA Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. UNCP has won all four meetings with the Pioneers, all taking place in 2007 and 2008.
