Macon, Ga. — Winthrop softball split on day one of the Mercer Bears Classic with a 3-2 win over North Dakota and a 5-4 loss to Mercer, Friday afternoon.
GAME INFORMATION
RECORDS: Winthrop (11-9) | Mercer (8-8) | North Dakota (6-10)
WINTHROP LEADERS: Taylor Charlton (4-for-7, 3R, 2B, 2HR, 3 RBI) | Watson (CG, W, 5H, 2R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K) | McCall (3-for-6, R, BB, 2SB)
WHAT HAPPENED
vs North Dakota
- With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Taylor Charlton took the first pitch over the fence in center for a 1-0 lead
- Quickly responding, North Dakota tied the game at 1-1 as Caitlyn Chumaker homered down the left field line with one away in the top of the fifth
- Jocelyn Kirk then got hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by Alexys Campos for a 2-1 lead
- In the bottom of the sixth, Lauren King led off and reach on an error by the first baseman
- Reema Patel pinch-ran for King and moved to second on a ground out by Madyson Watson
- Patel moved to third on a wild pitch before Ansley Gilreath walked but was then picked off
- Charlton stood in with two outs and hit an 0-1 count to left for a 3-2 lead
- Watson worked a 1-2-3 seventh including a strikeout to end the game as picked up her 5th win of the year after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and three strikeouts to no walks
at Mercer
- Eagles struck in the top of the first as Macy McCall led off with a single followed by a bunt single by King and then Watson was hit by a pitch to load the bases
- Gilreath came through with a single to right, scoring McCall
- The threat ended as Charlton grounded into a double play
- The Bears answered immediately in the bottom half as Micayla Rood singled with one out, moved to second on an error and then scored on a Danielle Castleberry single through the hole at short
- Charlton was at it again at the plate as she doubled with one out in the third inning with Watson at first
- Watson moved to third and scored on a throwing error by the centerfielder for a 2-1 lead as Charlton moved to third
- Ashley Westrooks plated Charlton with a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-1 advantage
- In the bottom of the sixth, Castleberry doubled to left center to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to third
- Allie Jones reached on an error as Castleberry scored and then Jones moved to second on a deep fly out to left
- Diamond Williams followed with a double to right center, scoring Jones and tying the game at 3-3
- The tie didn't last long as Watson led off the seventh and hit the first pitch she saw over the centerfield wall for a 4-3 lead
- Mercer tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Elisa Rosado singled with one out, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a Castleberry single
- Watson relieved Aisha Weixlmann after the sacrifice but it didn't slow down the Bears
- Castleberry moved to second on a wild pitch followed by an Adele Braun walk before Jones double to left center for the walk-off win as Castleberry crossed the plate
EXTRA BASES
- McCall extended her streak to 20 straight games of reaching base and extended her hitting streak to 12 games
- Westbrooks moved into a tie for 6th place on the all-time RBI list and tied McKenzi Corn for 13th on the all-time hit list (181)
- The Eagles extended their hitting streak to four straight before falling to Mercer, which was the team's third walk-off loss of the season
- Charlton had the first multi-homerun game of her collegiate career
ON DECK
Winthrop be back in action at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Mar. 13 when it faces Southern Mississippi and will then take on Mercer at 1:30 p.m.
