NC West Virginia News

Softball Goes 1-3 on Weekend Against Tusculum, King

The Davis & Elkins College Softball team was on the road in Tennessee over the weekend (February 18-19) to play doubleheaders with Tusculum University and King University. The squad was able to split with Tusculum on Saturday, but fell in both games against King on Sunday. 

Saturday

The first game of the day saw D&E play tough defensively behind solid pitching from Freshman Vanessa Hunt, who threw a complete game. Tusculum plated 2 runs early in the bottom of the 1st. Neither team was able to generate any additional runs until the 5th inning, when D&E Freshman Alyssa Haynes hit her first collegiate home run, a solo shot to center field to put the Senators within a run, 2-1. Junior Sharon Morales followed that up with a triple to right center, but the Pioneers were able to get out of the inning without any further damage. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Tusculum plated two more to take a 4-1 lead heading into the 6th. In the top of the 6th, 5th Year Senior Kailynn Parks doubled to left field and was driven home by a base hit from Sophomore Linzey Allard. The late rally ultimately fell short as the Senators went down 4-2 despite out hitting Tusculum 7 hits to 4.

Game two was a much better offensive game for the Senators as Sophomore Anjolina Gutierrez started off the game with a leadoff hit, and Allard set the tone with a 2-run bomb to center field to take the early 2-0 lead. The Senators continued their hot hitting with Freshman Alexa Uphold getting her first collegiate hit in the top of the 2nd inning. She was driven in to score along with Gutierrez on a single from Parks, who went 2 for 5 on the day with 2 RBIs. Gweny Wessling also registered her first hit as a Senator, a double in the top of the inning that saw 4 runs on 3 hits to make it a 8-2 Senator lead heading into the bottom of 5. Tusculum responded late in the game, scoring 2 runs on 3 hits in the 5th and another 3 runs on 3 hits in the 6th to make it a close game at 9-7 heading into the final frame. But the Senators responded by plating 2 insurance runs in the top of 7 to hold on and win their first game of the season 11-7, with 13 hits on the day. Sophomore Pitcher Saylor Kneeland got the win in the circle for D&E, pitching well through 5 innings. Hunt came in in relief to close out the last 2 innings and get the save.

"It's always exciting to pick up the 1st win of the season," said Head Coach Elle Fracker. "We saw some really high moments and the team is starting to click. The more dirt time we get, the more exciting this team is going to be."

Sunday

The Senators traveled down the road to Bristol, Tennessee to play a doubleheader with King University. Uphold got the start in the circle for D&E in the first game and put up a strong performance, going 4 innings and only giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The game was a pitching duel as neither team was able to generate much offense. The Senators didn't score until the top of the 6th when they tied the game at 2 on a pinch hit single from Senior Maddie Lavelle to drive home 2 runs, Wessling and Jules Gutierrez, who had singled earlier in the inning. Heading into the bottom of the 7th with a tie score, the Tornado were able to get a timely hit to drive in the game winning run and take the 3-2 victory. 

Game two was the tale of two rough innings, as the Senators held King scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd when they exploded for 5 runs on 5 hits to go up 5-1. Hunt was able to hold them to one run each in the bottom of the 4th and the bottom of the 5th. Then, in the top of the 6th D&E scored 3 runs on 3 hits to make it a manageable 5-7 game until the bottom of the inning when King once again found their bats to plate 4 more and run away with an 11-5 victory. 

After the game, Coach Fracker said, "We faced a tough opponent in King and we just couldn't string enough hits together to keep up. We are getting great experience against good teams."

 

Original source can be found here