Lady Eagles sweep Francis Marion, 1-0 and 4-3
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman softball team swept Francis Marion on Wednesday afternoon, winning the first game 1-0 and claiming the second game 4-3 at the Lady Eagle softball complex.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman softball team swept Francis Marion on Wednesday afternoon, winning the first game 1-0 and claiming the second game 4-3 at the Lady Eagle softball complex.
With the sweep, the Lady Eagles improve to 19-8-1 on the season. The Patriots fall to 17-12-1.
In the first game, senior Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) lined a walk-off single to center field, driving in Kim Whaley (Maryville, Tenn.) from second base for the winning run to lift C-N to a 1-0 victory.
Neither team was able to generate any offense through the first six and a half innings with strong outings from both starting pitchers.
C-N starting hurler Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) fired a complete game shutout to earn the win. Shealy surrendered just five hits and struck out six batters in seven innings of work.
Francis Marion starter Kayla Ellingsen (7-4) was tagged with the loss despite giving up just one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings in the circle. She also fanned seven batters.
Whaley sparked the Lady Eagles in the bottom of the seventh as she led off the inning with a single to left field. After pinch hitter Amy Lawrence (Knoxville, Tenn.) delivered a sacrifice bunt to get Whaley to second, Price then ripped the game-winning single to center field.
In the second contest, Shealy broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run home run in the sixth to lift the Lady Eagles to a 4-3 victory.
Shealy also picked up her second win on the day in the circle. She worked four innings and gave up one run on four hits to improve to 16-6 on the season. She also had two strikeouts.
Senior shortstop Whitney Kee (Knoxville, Tenn.) added two hits for C-N in the win.
The Patriots collected 10 hits in the loss, including a 3-for-3 effort from Ashley Jaramillo. Destinea Schneider and Olivia Ferguson added two hits apiece.
Francis Marion starting pitcher Cea Knox (9-7) picked up the loss after surrendering three earned runs and seven hits in six innings of work.
The Patriots struck first in the opening frame, as Jaramillo delivered a run-scoring single to give Francis Marion a 1-0 lead.
C-N battled back to take the lead in the third. Dariayn Wright (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) scored on an error to tie the game at 1-1. Kee later singled up the middle to drive in Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) to give the Lady Eagles a 2-1 lead.
After Francis Marion tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on a RBI single by Megann Sallinger, Shealy gave C-N the lead for good in the sixth as she sent a two-run blast to right center.
The Patriots pulled to within 4-3 with one out in the seventh, but Shealy forced two groundouts to seal the win.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Friday at home in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Catawba. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
