Box Score
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CLINTON, SC— Winthrop allowed three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning which was all Presbyterian College needed as the Eagles lost 4-2, Wednesday afternoon in Big South Conference softball action.
The Eagles lost the game, but still took the regular season series after a doubleheader sweep of the Blue Hose on Mar. 20. Winthrop's record falls to 16-16 overall and 4-5 in the Big South. PC improves to 17-12 on the year and 3-3 in the league.
PC took a 3-2 lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. It started with one out as Jill McLean walked and then moved to second on an error by
Sara Allen on a grounder by Erin Ruff that put runners at first and second. It looked like Allen might escape unscathed after McLean was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice but a two-out, two-run double to left center by Shelby Petik tied the game at 2-2. Petik advanced to third on the throw in from the outfield and then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
Winthrop had a chance to go into its final at-bat trailing only by a run but an error with two outs in the sixth inning led to a run to make it 4-2.
"We played really poorly on defense today and they drove in the runs to make us pay for it," said Winthrop head coach
Mark Cooke. "Our hitting was off and we were not sharp at all today."
Facing a 4-2 deficit in the top of the seventh, Winthrop's
Alex White led off with a double to center field. The Blue Hose made a pitching change following the double as Sydney Seigler replaced Katie Brown and
Leah Young replaced White at second as a pinch-runner.
Kelsey Ritter popped out to second and then
Paige Haley hit into a fielder's choice as Young as thrown out at third on the force. That brought up pinch-hitter
Christine DeWitt with two outs, but she struck out on a check-swing on a 2-2 count.
Naomi Stevens led off the game with a single and moved to second two batters later on a groundout by
McKenzi Corn. Stevens then moved to third on a wild pitch and then came around to score on a passed ball for an early 1-0 lead. It is the fourth game out of the last five that Winthrop has scored in the top of the first as this game wrapped up six straight on the road.
Allen ran into some trouble in the third inning as she issued a lead-off walk on a 3-2 count to Jennifer Marshall, who then advanced to second on a passed ball. Allen struck out the next batter, but the third strike bounced into the dirt as Ashlyn Durham swung and missed but hustled down the line and reached first to put runners at the corners. Durham moved over to second on another wild pitch. Then Allen struck out the next batter before Ruff reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Ruff grounded to short and Antone held the runners but then made a throw to third base trying to get Marshall too far off the bag but she dove around the tag of
Kelsey Ritter safely. Allen geared up and was able to strikeout Kersten Legacki with a high fastball and then got Petik to ground out to the pitcher to end the threat, stranding all three runners.
Leading 1-0, junior Ritter added to the offense with a solo home run to left field in the top of the fifth inning. It was Ritter's third home run of the season and second against PC in the last week.
Allen suffered the loss and is now 7-7 on the year after allowing four unearned runs on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Brown earned the win and is 5-3 after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Stevens and Antone each finished with two hits as Antone extended her hitting streak to nine games and has now reached base in 13 straight games.
Winthrop will return home for a three-game series with Radford this weekend beginning on Friday with a single-game at 7 p.m. Then the Eagles and Highlanders will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the 1 p.m. game being aired on ESPN3 with a second game to follow.
