PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke softball team scored nine runs on 22 hits in a home doubleheader Monday afternoon at the UNCP Softball Field, but were outdone by 44 runs and 41 hits by visiting Columbus State in 18-1, 26-8 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) setbacks to the Cougars in the final home action of the 2018 campaign.
The Braves (22-20, 2-14 PBC) have now lost eight-straight games in the last 11 days and are mathematically eliminated from postseason competition with Monday's losses. Columbus State (29-16, 12-4 PBC), who set a PBC record for most hits in a game in the nightcap, improves to 14-2 in its last 16 games and notched its 10th run-rule victory of the season in game two.
Senior
Taylor Gerhart was the lone Brave to record multiple hits in game one, while classmate
Lexie Coxe drove in the only UNCP run with an RBI single in the second inning. Gerhart's 2-for-3 outing gives her five multi-hit games this season.
Columbus State used a second-inning grand slam to take a 4-0 lead and never looked back. The Cougars tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth before exploding for 10 tallies on six hits in the seventh. The Black & Gold left nine runners on base, including seven in the final four innings.
Four Braves pitched combined to allow 18 earned runs on 15 hits, only one of which was surrendered by sophomore
Shelby Thomas, who made her collegiate debut in the circle.
Mary Sells,
Rendi Wetherington and
Tatum Brummitt each logged three hits in the nightcap, while Gerhart registered her sixth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-3 outing. Sells drove in a career-high three runs, including a two-run single in the fifth.
The guests poured on the runs early in game two with three in the first and an eight spot in the second. UNCP answered with five runs on six hits and an error in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 11-5, but Columbus State scored nine times on six hits in the third to blow the game open. The Cougars tacked on four more in the fourth and a pair in the seventh before the Braves plated three runs on five hits in their final at-bat.
Columbus State's 26 hits in game two are a new PBC record, which surpasses the previous record of 25 that stood for over 20 years (3/15/98, Kennesaw State vs. UNCP).
The Braves are back in action Wednesday when they hit the road to Murfreesboro for a twinbill against Chowan. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Hawks Field. The Hawks (23-12) are winners of six-straight games by a combined 51-7 score. UNCP leads the all-time series 17-5 over Chowan, but the sides split a doubleheader in Pembroke last season.
