Box Scores (Game 1 | Game 2)
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Three errors in the opener and another four in the nightcap haunted the UNC Pembroke softball squad Sunday afternoon, as host Georgia College turned in nine unearned runs in a 5-4, 9-1 sweep of the Braves at the Peeler Complex in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) action.
The Braves (17-12, 2-6 PBC) have now dropped eight-straight contests, including six in league play, while the Bobcats (18-10, 5-1 PBC) pick up wins number 12 and 13 in their last 14 outings.
Game one featured four lead changes, but none more important than the seventh-inning run scored by the hosts on UNCP's third miscue of the game. Two other Black & Gold errors led to two unearned runs for Georgia College.
After the Bobcats struck for one on the first, UNCP grabbed a lead of its own with two tallies in the second.
Jessica Auld singled and
Alex Watkins doubles to set the stage for a 2-out double from backstop
Toni Nelson to plate both runners.
Two more Bobcats runs in the third pushed the hosts to a 3-2 lead, but the Braves bounced back again in the fourth with RBIs from
Lexie Coxe and Auld.
A single GC run in the fifth on a Brave error knotted the game at 4-4 before the Bobcats pushed across the winning run in the seventh.
Nelson was a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with a run scored, while Auld and
Jamie Johnson each tacked on a pair of hits.
Malerie Leviner (5-6) was awarded her first game one start of the season with the absence of
Abbey Walters (injury). The freshman tossed all 6.1 innings and allowed three earned runs on 10 hits.
The Black & Gold gave up a season-high seven unearned runs in the nightcap in what was UNCP's first run-rule setback of the season. Georgia College scored at least once in all five innings, while the lone Brave run came on a
Taylor Gerhart single in the third.
Making her first collegiate start, freshman
Maddie Armfield (1-1) went the distance and surrendered just two earned runs on 105 pitches. Nelson picked up one hit to go 4-for-5 on the day, while Auld finished the day at 3-for-4 with another hit in game two. Johnson put together a 3-for-6 performance from the leadoff spot Sunday and stole her 19th stolen base of the campaign, which is second-best in the PBC.
The Braves return home Wednesday for a 4 p.m. twinbill against Coker at LRA Field. The Cobras (21-7) took a 7-5 contest from UNCP last season in Hartsville, South Carolina before the teams played to an 8-8 tie on the backend of a doubleheader.
