Related: Softball Suffers First Sweep Of Season At Newberry
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Two unearned runs in game two proved costly for the UNC Pembroke softball team Sunday, dropping a tight 3-2 contest after falling 6-3 in the opening tilt to Peach Belt Conference foe Young Harris at E.D. Rivers Field amongst the mountains of northern Georgia.
The Braves (14-15-1, 5-5 PBC) see their losing skid increase to five with the sweep now sit eighth in the league race. Young Harris (21-9, 7-3 PBC) jumps to second in the conference with the sweep and improve to 6-2 all-time against the Black & Gold.
A 10-hit performance was not enough to deliver a win for UNCP in game one, in large part due to a three-run third inning from Young Harris.
The Black & Gold jumped out to a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat when Toni Nelson sent a one-out, bases-loaded single to right field, plating Jamie Johnson, who reached on a lead-off single. Nelson extended her streak of reaching base to 12 games.
Young Harris answered with a run of their own in the first to knot the game at 1-1 and both teams went scoreless in the second frame. The Braves retook the lead in the third with Nelson striking again, this time with a sacrifice fly to right that pushed Whitney Jackson home.
The Mountain Lions then struck for three runs in the third on just one hit, aided by four walks and a passed ball. The hosts added single tallies in the fourth and sixth to stretch the advantage to 6-2.
UNCP scratched across a run in the seventh when Johnson scored on a Young Harris error, but couldn't cash in any more, dropping its fourth-consecutive game.
Jackson and Johnson both racked up multiple hits, Jackson with a 3-for-4 effort and Johnson going 2-for-4 at the dish. Johnson scored two runs and Jackson crossed the plate once.
Katie Saunders started the game in the circle for the Black & Gold, going three-plus innings and surrendering five runs (four earned) on five hits. The senior walked five and struck out one, seeing her record drop to 9-8. Freshman Taylor Strickland tossed three innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits and a trio of walks.
With the Braves trying to salvage a split, two unearned runs on the defensive side paired with a season-low three hits at the plate was not the answer the guests were looking for in game two.
After trailing 2-0 after the first two frames, UNCP responded in the third with two runs on two hits to bring the game back to even. After a Sierra Shipley single and a Lexie Coxe base on balls put runners on first and second, Johnson delivered with a single through the left side, her 23rd RBI of the season. Jackson followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Coxe.
Young Harris scored the eventual winning run in the fourth on a wild pitch. UNCP's best shot to tie or take the lead came in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs before a groundout ended the threat.
Johnson, Shipley and Savannah Melvin each tallied a base knock in game two. Abbey Walters (3-4) took her seventh start of the season and turned out four innings in the circle, allowing just one earned run on six hits. The junior struck out four and walked three. Strickland once again entered in relief, tossing two scoreless innings.
The Braves will make the 40-mile journey south to North Georgia for a Monday doubleheader with the No. 11 Nighthawks. First pitch is set for noon at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium in Dahlonega. North Georgia (30-5, 8-0 PBC) swept a Sunday doubleheader from Francis Marion, 6-1 and 4-0.
