PEMBROKE – Visiting Augusta took the lead in the third inning of both games and held off late comeback attempts from the UNC Pembroke softball team to down the Braves 8-4 and 9-6 on Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference (PBC) doubleheader at the UNCP Softball Field.
The Braves (22-18, 2-12 PBC) have now dropped six-straight league games in the last eight days, including four at home to drop their record in Pembroke to 9-13. With the wins, Augusta (16-28, 7-9 PBC) moves into a tie for fifth in the PBC standings and improve to 43-18 all-time against the Black & Gold.
Prior to Saturday's games, the Braves honored six seniors:
Carleigh Brooks,
Lexie Coxe,
Haleigh Epperson,
Taylor Gerhart,
Jamie Johnson and
Toni Nelson.
Coxe and Epperson each logged a pair of hits in the opener, including Epperson's two-RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth. Johnson launched her seventh home run of the game in a 1-for-2 outing, while
Alyssa Price drove in a run with an RBI groundout.
Johnson's long ball put the Black & Gold up 1-0 in the second, but Augusta's Carolyn Edwards hit a two-run home run in the third to put the guests up 2-1. The Jaguars added four runs in the fourth and tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth to take an 8-1 lead.
Epperson's triple cut the UNCP deficit to 8-3 in the sixth and Price's run-scoring groundout whittled the Augusta edge down to 8-4.
Rendi Wetherington followed with a double to left center, but a groundout ended the inning and the Braves were unable to get a rally going in the seventh.
Freshman
Breezy Yelton tossed the final three innings in relief of
Malerie Leviner (8-8), who allowed seven runs in four innings. Yelton surrendered just one run on three hits and struck out one batter, while Leviner sat down five Jaguars via strikeout.
Mary Sells exploded for four hits in five at-bats in game two, while Nelson went 3-for-5 with a career-high four RBIs. Sells also drove in a run and both players scored once. Gerhart had the only other UNCP RBI on a single in the second inning.
Augusta got on the board first with two runs in its first at-bat, but Nelson's first RBI single of the game cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Gerhart's RBI single knotted the game at 2-2 in the second before the Jaguars scored four times on four hits and an error in the third to go up 6-2.
Nelson's second home run in the last four games brought the deficit to 6-3 in the fourth and the senior backstop notched two more RBIs with a double in the fourth. Sells' RBI base knock in the fifth erased the four-run deficit and tied the game 6-6.
After a pair of scoreless frames on both sides in the sixth and seventh, the guests took a 9-6 lead in the top of the eighth with an RBI single and a two-run home run. All three runs were unearned after a costly UNCP error earlier in the inning.
Yelton (8-4) was saddled with the tough-luck loss after not allowing an earned run in 5.2 innings of work out of the bullpen. She struck out two batters and did not issue a walk.
The Braves will play their final home games of the 2018 season Monday afternoon when Columbus State invades Pembroke. First pitch of the twinbill is set for 1 p.m. at the UNCP Softball Field. The Cougars (27-16, 10-4 PBC) have won 12 of their last 14 games dating back to March 24 and sit third in the league race.
