Lady Eagles swept by West Virginia State, 5-2 and 8-5
Feb. 26, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman softball team suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season, falling to West Virginia State 5-2 and 8-5 on Thursday afternoon at the Lady Eagles Softball Complex.
With the losses, C-N falls to 10-4 on the year. West Virginia State improves to 2-0.
In the first game, the Lady Eagles managed just two hits and committed three costly errors, while the Yellow Jackets pounded out eight hits and were flawless in the field en route to a 5-2 win.
Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.) and Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.) each had one hit for C-N.
Brittany Hyatt finished with two hits and two RBIs to lead West Virginia State, while Charli Small and Bobbi Harper each had two hits.
West Virginia State's Diana Humphreys (1-0) earned the win after pitching all seven innings, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out six.
Shealy (8-2) was tagged with the loss as she surrendered five runs (two earned) on eight hits and had five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
West Virginia State put the first runs on the board in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by Hyatt that gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead.
The Yellow Jackets pushed their lead to 5-0 with three runs in the top of the seventh. Casey Jo Crawford and Lauren Nichols both scored on a C-N error, and Small drove in the final run of the inning with a single to right center.
Durham's two-run double in the home half of the seventh cut West Virginia State's lead to 5-2, but it was all the offense the Lady Eagles could muster.
In the second contest, West Virginia State finished with 13 hits on its way to an 8-5 victory.
The Lady Eagles collected seven hits in the game. Brianne Coon (Orlando, Fla.) and Leah Price (Spring City, Tenn.) had two hits and two RBIs each to lead C-N.
Hyatt went 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Yellow Jackets, while Mallory Hilton also had three hits and two RBIs. Kris Taylor added two hits in the win.
Margaret Osborne (1-0) picked up the win after allowing five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings on the mound. Osborne also had five walks and one strikeout.
Lady Eagles starting hurler Brittany Linton (Marietta, Ga.) (1-1) was hit with the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits and striking out two in five innings of work.
West Virginia State scored two runs in the first, one in the third and erupted for five runs in the sixth to build an 8-0 cushion heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
But the Lady Eagles made things interesting with a five-run sixth inning. Coon delivered a two-run single, Price contributed a two-run triple and Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) came through with a run-scoring single for C-N to cut West Virginia State's lead to 8-5 heading into the seventh inning.
However, that was as close as the Lady Eagles would get as they failed to manufacture any runs in the home half of the seventh.
C-N returns to action in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 5 against Erskine. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at the Lady Eagles Softball Complex.
