PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke softball squad could not take advantage of a seventh-inning, two-on, no-out situation in a 3-2 setback to West Virginia State before falling victim to a pair of costly errors in an 11-2 loss to Kutztown on day two of the UNCP Softball Invitational on Saturday in Pembroke.

Senior Taylor Gerhart drove in three of UNCP's four runs on the day, including an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth against West Virginia State to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. Gerhart walked with the bases loaded to plate the other Black & Gold run in the third inning of game one.

A pair of doubles in the top of the sixth brought the Yellow Jackets back even at 2-2 and West Virginia State plated the eventual winning run on an RBI single following a nine-pitch at bat in the top half of the seventh.

Back-to-back singles from freshmen Tatum Brummitt and Cara Davis put Braves on first and second with no outs in the latter half of the seventh, but West Virginia State hurler Emily Thompson closed the door with a pair of infield popups and a strikeout.

Sophomore Malerie Leviner (1-1) was saddled with the loss in the circle after allowing three runs in 6.1 innings of work. She struck out four batters and surrendered six hits.

UNCP was knotted 1-1 with Kutztown after two innings of game two, but the Golden Bears scored eight runs, seven of which were unearned, in the third and fourth innings combined to blow the game open en route to the run-rule victory.

Sophomore Raygan Larson (1-1) took the tough-luck loss after allowing just one earned run in 3.1 innings of work.

With a serious threat of rain on Sunday in Pembroke, the final day of the UNCP Softball Invitational is in jeopardy. Stay tuned to uncpsoftball.com for updates.