USC Aiken Softball Splits Tough Home Doubleheader With No. 24 Wingate
AIKEN, S.C. – The USC Aiken softball team split a pair of
tough non-conference games with 24th-ranked Wingate Tuesday
afternoon at J.H. Satcher Field. The Pacers were able to squeeze
out a win in the first game 4-3 in 13 long innings, but fell just
short of sweeping the Bulldogs, falling 5-3 in the second game.
USC Aiken improves to 20-19 overall on the 2010 campaign overall
while Wingate moves to 29-9.
The first game went scoreless through the first four and a half
innings with neither team able to assert themselves over the other
until the Pacers put three runs up in the bottom of the fifth
inning.
Senior Kellie Hair (Aiken, S.C./Aiken Tech) and the freshmen duo
of Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun) and Kelley King
(Chesterfield, S.C./Chesterfield) all crossed the plate to put the
Pacers up 3-0 off four hits and one Wingate error.
The Bulldogs answered with three runs of their own in the top of
the sixth inning to tie the game up. From there neither team was
able to find the go-ahead run in regulation sending the game into
extra innings.
The game continued well into the 13th inning, just four shy of the
most innings played by a Pacer softball squad. The record was set
in 2005 when the Pacers upended then PBC foe and No. 9 North
Florida 1-0 in 17 innings.
In the bottom of the 13th inning, with two runners on and only one
out, the Pacers looked to Lauren Locklear to end the game. Locklear
(Charleston, S.C./Wando) stepped to the plate and delivered a
hard-hit ball to the second baseman who mishandled the hop allowing
the ball to travel into right field and seeing Hair cross the plate
to put the game away for USC Aiken, 4-3.
The Pacers were led at the plate in game one by the freshmen
tandem of Bossle and King as well as by junior Blair Warren
(Darlington, S.C./Florence-Darlington Tech). King and Warren both
went 3-for-4 at the plate with King recording an RBI and a run
while Bossle was 3-for-7 with one run scored.
Brittany Blankenship took the loss for Wingate in just over 12
innings of work, fanning eight batters. She falls to 4-7 on the
2010 season.
Senior Toni Flessate (Goose Creek, S.C./Stratford) recorded the
win for the Pacers in the circle going eight innings and striking
out five batters after Kathleen Nichols (Orange City, Fla./Daytona
Beach) started the first five innings. Flessate moves to 12-7 for
the 2010 campaign.
The Bulldogs battled back in the first inning of the second game
pushing four runners across the plate before the Pacers could put
an end to the inning.
The Pacers avoided the shutout in the bottom of the fourth inning
when Warren scored off the bat of right fielder Nikki Sidaway
(Wiley Ford, W.Va./Potomac State) to put the deficit to just three
at 4-1.
Wingate extended their lead back out to four in the top of the
fifth inning, but Warren continued her stout hitting day, negating
the increase when she brought the score back to within two in the
bottom of the inning when she ripped a double over the right
fielder’s head to score Hair and Bossle.
The Pacers tried in the waning moments of the game to pull closer
to the Bulldogs but were unable to record the sweep.
Warren and Hair led USC Aiken’s bats in game two going
2-for-3 and each scoring a run. Warren added two RBIs to the Pacer
cause.
Allison Smith recorded the win in the circle for Wingate. She
improves to 14-4 on the year.
Nichols took the loss in game two for USC Aiken falling to 2-9 for
the 2010 campaign.
The Pacers will look to put the cap on their regular season at
J.H. Satcher Field with their conference doubleheader against the
nationally ranked Jaguars of rival Augusta State on Saturday, Apr.
10. The twinbill will serve as the Pacers’ Senior Day with
the first game slated to begin at 2 p.m. and the second game to
follow immediately after at around 4 p.m.
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