March 16, 2008

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Release contributed by Mount Olive Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.—Bailey Harrell drove in two runs and was among five Mount Olive players with two hits apiece as the Trojans defeated St. Andrews 9-2 in game one of a Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader Sunday at Nancy Chapman Cassell Field. The Trojans completed the sweep with a 4-0 victory in the nightcap as Jenny Jackson tossed a six-hitter for her third consecutive shutout.

Mount Olive (14-9 overall, 4-0 Conference Carolinas) took a quick 2-0 lead in game one as Kelly Minshew and Kat Cahoon led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back doubles. Cahoon scored when Jackson reached on a fielder’s choice.

Minshew led off the third inning with her second double of the game, moved to third on Cahoon’s sacrifice and scored on a single by Harrell. Wallace singled home Harrell to extend the Trojans’ lead to 4-0.

St. Andrews (5-22, 2-6) had threatened in the top of the second with a pair of singles to lead off the inning, but Mount Olive picked off the lead runner. The Knights got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as senior Mika Tanji (Honolulu, Hawaii) hit a one-out single and scored on a double by sophomore Brianna Shurtleff (Colton, Calif.).

Mount Olive answered with two runs in the fourth on a St. Andrews error and an rbi-double by Harrell to make the score 6-1. St. Andrews scored a run in the fifth before the Trojans broke the game open with three runs in the sixth.

Trojan starter Anna Turvin (5-5) scattered eight hits and retired the side in order in the final inning.

In the nightcap, Mount Olive broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh as Allison Czerski singled with one out and advanced to second on a passed ball. Whaley followed with a single up the middle to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

The Trojans added a run in the third as Minshew led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice by Cahoon and scored on Harrell’s double. The Trojans had the bases loaded with one out, but St. Andrews got out of the jam when Knights’ second baseman triggered a 4-3 double play.

The score remained 2-0 until the sixth when Wallace hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Czerski’s sacrifice fly. Lee hit a two-out single and scored from first on Minshew’s double.

Jackson (9-4), who threw one-hitters in each of her previous two starts, took a two-hitter into the sixth inning before running into trouble. A leadoff walk to senior Samantha Stewart (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) and a single by classmate Erin Haugen (Ft. Mill, S.C.) put runners on first and second with nobody out. After an infield pop-up, Whaley made a diving catch in center field and doubled up Stewart on second base to end the inning.

The Knights had runners on first and second with none out again in the seventh on a double by Tanji and a single by Shurtleff. Lee made a running catch near the right field line, then fired a strike to third to gun down Tanji, who tried to tag up from second. Sophomore Daisy Mendez (Miami, Fla.) kept the inning alive with a single, but Jackson closed out the game with a ground out.

Mount Olive won five of six games this week and remains unbeaten in conference play.

St. Andrews plays host to Glenville State (W. Va.) in a non-conference doubleheader Monday at 2 p.m.