CHARLOTTE, NC— Winthrop softball suffered doubleheader sweep at Charlotte Tuesday evening with losses of 2-0 and 9-1.
The Eagles fall to 12-25 on the year while Charlotte improves to 20-14. Winthrop gets back to Big South Conference play this weekend when it heads to Farmville, VA for a three-game series starting with a single-game on Friday at 5 p.m.
"We played really good the first game but left the bases loaded a couple of times," said Winthrop co-head coach
Mark Cooke. "In the second game we were in it until a bad play from us on a bunt opened the door and when you do that against a good team they can make you pay. Charlotte is a very good team."
Winthrop took the lead in the top of the first of game two after no runs in the first game and stranding eight.
Leah Young singled with two outs and then stole second to get into scoring position. Young came around to score when
Zharne Glover reached on a fielding error at second base.
The Eagles made a few changes to their lineup from game one with six freshmen starters.
Morgan Lowers,
Blake Wallert and
Chace Helms have been regular starters but the Winthrop coaching staff also went with freshmen
Keleigh Romine as the designated player,
Toni Pancione behind the plate and
Brooke Ellison at second.
In the top of the fifth the Eagles had a chance to respond as Ellison singled with one out. Lowers hit into a fielder's choice as Ellison was out at second.
Shayna Covington reached on an error to put runners at first and second with two outs, but Young struck out swinging.
Charlotte tied the game in the bottom of the 4
th after a leadoff single to Haley Pace. Two batters later Meredith Harris doubled, to score Pace from second after she had moved over on a ground out. Helms gave up a third hit in four batters so a pitching change was made to Romine and with runners at first and second and one out she finished off the inning to keep the game tied.
Mistakes proved costly in the fifth inning for the Eagles as Charlotte grabbed the lead. It started with a leadoff walk by Alex Paulson followed by a bunt single from Emma Ocker as Wallert's throw got away and allowed Paulson to score and Ocker to move to second. Bailey Rhoney followed that with a double to right that scored Ocker for a 3-1 lead. The next three batters all drew walks as Harris was walked on four pitches with the bases loaded to make it 4-1. The game got away from the Eagles when Erin Powers cleared the bases with a double to right center for a 7-1 lead. The 49ers added two more runs in the sixth to earn the 9-1 win.
Helms started the game in the circle for the Eagles, but didn't factor in the decision after pitching 3.1 innings allowing one run on six hits. Romine took the loss and falls to 1-3 after allowing six runs (five earned) on three hits with four walks and a strikeout.
Charlotte's Lexi Betancourt allowed one unearned run on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts to improve to 13-8 on the year.
In the first game of the doubleheader the Eagles stranded eight runners while the 49ers posted the only two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Pace led off the inning with a first pitch home run to left field. Four batters later, Erin Powers doubled to right center with two outs, scoring Beatty from second.
Winthrop loaded the bases in the top of the second, but a fly out to center by
Morgan Lowers ended the threat. In the top of the fifth before the 49ers jumped in front, the Eagles had their chance with the bases loaded and one out. Lowers started it off with a one-out single followed by a
Paige Haley single down the right field line to put runners at the corners. However, Charlotte pitcher Haley Wiseman struck out
Megan Winningham and Glover to end the inning.
Wiseman held the Eagles to four hits while striking out nine and walking three in a complete game performance to improve to 7-6 on the year. Winthrop's
Kiley Majette suffered the loss as she allowed two runs on nine hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
Lowers entered the doubleheader on a six-game hitting streak and recorded a hit in each game to push that streak to a career-best eight games. Glover also had a hit in each game and has now hit safely in five straight games.
