by Zack Ciboth, Editor-In-Chief
Braves Use Eighth Inning Magic to Down Davis & Elkins
In the night cap of the first day of the UNCP Softball Invitational the Braves clawed their way late to take down the Davis & Elkins Senators in extra innings 11-6 Friday night at Purnell Swett High School.
” To have good consecutive hits right off the bat is like a breath of fresh air. Our defense played really well today, had some great plays that kept us in the game. Our hitting came through. Sam (Allred) got us going to start the eighth inning and it was just contagious from there and we really shined there in the end,” UNCP Softball coach Stephanie Graziani said.
The Braves got things going in the first inning with an RBI single from Samantha Allred to put UNCP on the board bringing two runners’ home to make it 2-0. The Senators responded in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk, and Allie Cuellar scored a runner on a fielder’s choice play to tie the game at 2-2.
After a scoreless third and fourth inning from both sides we headed to the fifth inning. The Braves retook the lead with a Chloe Locklear RBI double and an RBI single from Allred that scored Locklear on back-to-back at bats to make it 4-2 Braves. The Senators once again responded to tie the game back up at 4-4 with an RBI double in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh inning to force extra innings.
The Braves bats came alive in the eighth inning beginning with an RBI single from Allred to make it 5-4. With the bases loaded Alona Hanna roped a bases clearing double to left center field to make it 8-4 Braves. Alex Serbio added one with two more runs on a single to make it 10-4 and Locklear rounded out the scoring with a single to make it 11-4. The Senators added on late with a two-run homerun from Linzey Allred to make it 11-6 but the damage was already done as the Braves held on for the win.
Alivia Lantzy got the start for the Braves, going six innings allowing three runs on four hits while walking five batters and sitting down five as well. Rachel Mori came in for relief and picked up the win as well for the Braves pitching two innings. She allowed three runs on three hits and walked two batters and struck out two as well.
Softball Falls Late to Kutztown
The UNC Pembroke softball team fell short of a late inning rally Friday afternoon against the Kutztown Golden Bears 3-2 in Game 3 of the UNCP Softball Invitational held at Purnell Swett High School.
MJ Wilkes got things going for the Braves in the bottom of the third with an RBI Single down the left field line that brought a runner around third for the score to make it 1-0 after the first two innings were scoreless. Alexa Stevens put the Golden Bears on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI groundout to second base bringing a runner across the plate to tie the game up at 1-1.
We headed to the top the of the sixth inning with the game still tied at 1-1 but that quickly ended as the Golden Bears broke open the lead with a two-run homerun from Morgan Slomkowski over the right field wall to put Kutztown up 3-1. Needing one last late inning rally for the Braves, Kylie Johnson managed to salvage a run in the seventh on an RBI groundout that scored a run to make it 3-2. But the magic for the Braves was short and they ended up falling short in the loss.
“Kutztown is a super-regional team and we hung in there right with them, I liked the fight that we had right there at the end, we didn’t go down swinging. We came out and scored a run late so proud of the group putting one together right there,” Graziani said.
Summer Bullard took the loss for the Braves going all seven innings allowing three runs on seven hits, walking zero batters and sitting down seven batters.
“She showed great poise on the mound, things didn’t go our way with the home run but her response was what mattered and the response of the team and how they handled that was very good and I love to see that and see that adversity from them shows that they don’t give up,” Graziani said.
Weekend Scoreboard
On Saturday UNCP went on to defeat Felician 11-3 in six innings before falling to Davis & Elkins on Sunday 7-1 before picking up a tournament sweep win over Felician 12-4 in five innings. The Braves rounded out the tournament with a 3-2 overall record.
The Braves will be back in action on Friday when they play in the Brianna Surrento Kickoff Classic hosted by Lander. UNCP will face Emmanuel on Friday at noon, followed by Lander at 4 p.m.