April 6, 2008

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NOTE: Release contributed by Mars Hill Sports Information

MARS HILL, N.C.—The Lady Knights softball team split a non-conference doubleheader at Mars Hill College Sunday afternoon at Ponder Park. MHC won the first contest, 6-1, before SAPC won the second game, 12-7. MHC is now 34-11 overall while St. Andrews took their season record to 9-30.

Game 1: MHC 6, SAPC 1

St. Andrews scored the first run of game in their first at-bat when senior Mika Tanji (Honolulu, Hawaii) single to left field to plate classmate Erin Haugen (Ft. Mill, S.C.). That would later prove to be the only run the Lions would allow the Knights.

MHC scored two runs in the fourth inning on three hits and one St. Andrews error. Anna James had a RBI double in the inning. Ashley Harber singled through the left side to drive in Kristina Osborn in the fifth frame to give MHC a 3-1 advantage. The Lions scored three runs on two hits and three Knights errors in the sixth inning to make the final tally, 6-1. Natalie Haithcox highlighted the inning with a two-RBI double.

Tiffany Farthing (14-3) threw six innings scattering five hits to pick up the win (14-3) for the Lions on the mound.

Osborn, Harber and James recorded two hits apiece to lead the Lions at the plate. Tanji led St. Andrews going 2-3 with an RBI. Senior Samantha Stewart (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) took the loss throwing four innings.

Game 2: SAPC 12, MHC 7

St. Andrews scored nine runs in the sixth inning to obtain the win in the nightcap. The Knights again scored in their first at-bat when freshman Jasmine Dobbin (Pikeville, N.C.) hit a solo home run to right field. Dobbin’s blast was her first collegiate home run.

The Lions answered scoring three runs in the bottom half of the first inning on five hits. Tiara Mitchell hit a two-run homerun and Haithcox hit a RBI double to account for the runs. MHC again put three runs on the board in the third inning when Harber hit a three-run blast over the center field fence.

The Knights cut the Lions' lead in half in the fourth inning when Tanji scored on a throwing error. St. Andrews then took the lead for good in the sixth inning scoring nine runs on seven hits and one Lion error. Sophomore Brianna Shurtleff (Colton, Calif.) hit a grand slam home run to highlight the inning. Shurtleff has two homers on the season and a team-high 16 RBI.

MHC managed to push across one run in the bottom half of the sixth but that was as close as MHC would get. MHC had 14 hits in the loss but committed four errors in the field.

Shurtleff led the Knights with four RBI while junior Tiffany Capone (Jacksonville, N.C.) and senior Ashley Shurtleff (Colton, Calif.) tallied two hits apiece. Dobbin went 3-for-4 with a homerun, two RBI and the same number of runs scored. Stewart picked up her seventh win of the season in relief.

Osborn went 4-4 at the plate with two runs scored and a RBI to lead MHC offensively. Harber was 3-4 with three RBI and a homerun. Paige Brantley (Raleigh, NC) took the loss (9-4) for MHC throwing the final two innings of the contest.

St. Andrews visits Conference Carolinas rival Lees-McRae College in a rescheduled doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon starting at 3:00 p.m.