BOILING SPRINGS, NC— Winthrop got back-to-back solid pitching performances to help lead the softball team to a double-header sweep of Gardner-Webb, Wednesday afternoon in Big South Conference action.
The two wins improve the Eagles to 14-24 overall on the year and 4-6 in the Big South. Gardner-Webb falls to 11-19 overall and 3-5 in the league. With a 4-4 league record, Winthrop is now tied for fourth place in the standings with Charleston Southern.
Winthrop scored four runs in the top of the first in game two, which was all Natalie Becker needed in the pitching circle as she allowed just four hits.
Megan Chapman led off the first with a base hit up the middle and moved over after McKenzie Corn grounded out to the pitcher. Kathryn Eberlin singled to right to put runners at the corners. Chelsey Schoenfeldt stepped up and grounded out to short, but Chapman crossed the plate for a 1-0 lead. After a Brittany Stoudemire single, Veronica Berrie came through as she pulled a double down the right field line that scored two and put Winthrop up 3-0. Kelly Blea followed with her third hit of the day as she singled to right for a 4-0 lead.
“We hit the ball very, very well today,” said Winthrop head softball coach. “We got great pitching for a change. Natalie and Chelsey threw great ball games. We haven't been getting good games in a row by our pitchers. That is something we really needed.”
Winthrop added another in the fifth when Chapman reached on an error and moved over to second on a sacrifice by Corn. Eberlin delivered once again as she singled up the middle for an RBI, her third of the day.
Gardner-Webb managed just four hits against Becker, but had some chances to get back in the game against the young lefthander. In the bottom of the first, Morgan Baker drew a one out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. McKenzie Morenus singled up the middle to put runners at the corners, but Becker got Lindsea Hutchinson to fly out to right to end the threat.
Morenus drove in the only run of the game for the Runnin' Bulldogs as she plated Baker with a double to left center with no outs. Baker led off the inning with a walk. Becker struck out Hutchinson for the first out, but then loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. Winthrop's defense held strong behind Becker as she got Rachel Jablonski hit a grounder to short and Chapman threw the ball home to get the force out. Becker then struck out Melinda Dulkowski to leave the bases juiced and end the inning.
Becker finished the game allowing one earned run on the four hits with six walks and eight strikeouts in a complete game effort and is now 4-8 on the year. Of the six walks, Baker drew four of them.
Winthrop took game one thanks to a 7-0 lead through the first five innings. The offense got it going in the top of the first as Chapman led off with a single and was moved over on a sacrifice bunt by Jenna Harbin. Eberlin stepped up and singled to left field, scoring Chapman from second. Eberlin, who moved over to second after her hit as the throw went home trying to nail Chapman, scored on the next play as Schoenfeldt hit an opposite field double in the gap.
Chapman made it 3-0 Eagles in the second inning as she hit a fly ball deep enough to right field to score Blea at third on a sacrifice fly.
In the fourth inning it was Chapman again as she singled up the middle with two outs, scoring Blea from second base. Blea had reached on a single to lead-off the inning and with two outs stole second.
The fifth inning began with a strikeout by Harbin, but Eberlin followed that with a solo shot to straight away center. It was the second home run of the season for Eberlin. After the Runnin' Bulldogs made a pitching change, Schoenfelt immediately belted her fifth home run of the season as she welcomed the new pitcher with a shot to right field. Berrie walked with two outs to keep things going and was replaced by pinch-runner Courtney Gaddy, who moved to second on the second hit of the game by Blea. Lauren Levin stepped in and delivered a pinch-hit single to left, scoring Gaddy for a 7-0 lead.
Schoenfeldt allowed 10 hits in the game as the pitcher, with half of them coming in the final two innings when Gardner-Webb finally broke through on the scoreboard. Schoenfeldt improved to 7-8 as she allowed three earned runs with a walk and a strikeout in seven innings.
Winthrop was impressive at the plate all day, hitting .390 as a team with 23 total hits as Blea, Schoenfeldt and Eberlin all had five hits. Schoenfeldt had a career-high four hits in the first game of the day and singled in the seventh inning of game two in order to extend her career-best hitting streak to 12 games. The sophomore designated player and pitcher is now batting .410 on the season and has at least two hits in seven of the last nine games. Schoenfeldt has raised her batting average 118 points in the last 12 games.
Winthrop will look for its third straight win on Friday, April 15 when it hosts Presbyterian College at 5 p.m. in the final game of a three-game series. PC swept the Eagles on March 16 in a double-header in Clinton, SC.
