February 7, 2009

Printer Friendly PDF

LAURINBURG, N.C.—The Wingate University softball team ripped 30 hits in a 7-2 and 21-3 (5-innings) sweep of Southeast Region foe St. Andrews Presbyterian College in the opening doubleheader of the season for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Knights Softball Field.

Junior Sarah Applegarth (pictured) made her debut at SAPC a memorable one with a two-run homer in the first inning of Saturday's game against Wingate.

Junior LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.) led the Lady Bulldogs (2-0) to the pair of victories with five hits, four runs, and three stolen bases. Senior Jamie Millen (Monroe, N.C.) and sophomore Emily Chavis (Berkeley Lake, Ga.) had four RBI apiece including Chavis slugging her first home run of the season.

Thirteen different Lady Bulldogs collected a hit in the twin bill including eight players with multiple hit days. Senior Hallie Pettigrew (Uniontown, Ohio) tagged four hits while Chavis, sophomore Whitney Williams (Little River, S.C.), freshman Joya Wortham (Creedmoor, N.C.), junior Julie Broyer (Hollister, Calif.) all finished with four base knocks.

Williams and Broyer each added three RBI and Chavis scored five times.

Junior Sarah Applegarth (Gainesville, Ga.) led the Lady Knights (0-2) offensively with a pair of hits and three RBI, including a home run in her first at bat of the season. Classmate Danyell Marquez (Riverside, Calif.) added a hit in each game.

St. Andrews visits USA Aiken next Saturday in a non-conference double dip scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Wingate hosts Coker College in its home opener on Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME ONE: Wingate 7, St. Andrews 2
Box Score; Play-By-Play

Wingate rallied with the final six runs of the opener and kept St. Andrews off the scoreboard for the final six innings en route to the 7-2 victory. The Bulldogs finished with 13 hits compared to four by the Knights.

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the first but Applegarth catapulted the Knights ahead in the home half of the opening stanza of the season with a two-run homer. In her first at-bat in a Royal Blue & White uniform after transferring from Young Harris College, Applegarth smoked the ball over the right field fence.

Chavis put Wingate back in front with a three-run homer in the third. Chavis smoked her first digger of the season to dead center field. The Bulldogs pulled away with an unearned run in the fourth and a two-run single by Broyer in the seventh.

McClain was 4-for-5 with two stolen bases and two runs scored. Broyer and Pettigrew each had a pair of singles.

Sophomore starter Brittany Blankenship (Midlothian, Va.) picked up the win on the mound with a complete-game performance. Blankenship scattered four hits and had six strikeouts. Freshman counterpart Ashley Disque (Prince Frederick, Md.) also went the distance but took the loss allowing seven runs (five earned) on 13 hits. Disque fanned five batters.

GAME TWO: Wingate 21, St. Andrews 3
Box Score; Play-By-Play

Wingate took advantage of seven SAPC errors by scoring 14 unearned runs as the Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 21-3 win in the nightcap. The Bulldogs scored six runs in the fourth and 10 runs in the fifth, shortening the game to five innings with the NCAA run rule.

Millen highlighted Wingate’s scoring with a bases-clearing, three-run double to the right field gap in the fifth inning. Millen finished with four RBI. Broyer supplied a run-producing triple in the second and Williams drove in three runs with a two singles in her two at bats in the fifth. Chavis and freshman Catherine Myers (Woodbridge, Va.) rounded the bases three times apiece in the finale.

Marquez put the Knights on the board with a double down the right field line. Applegarth -- who scored on Marquez’ double -- collected her third RBI of the afternoon with a seeing-eyed single through the right side of the infield in the fourth. Junior Kailee Munden (LaVerne, Calif.) led off the fourth with a double to the warning track in right-center field before scoring on Applegarth’s single.

Bulldogs’ sophomore hurler Allison Smith (Daleville, Va.) only needed to go three innings for the win. Smith (1-0) only allowed one hit and one run in the start while senior Cristin Kelly (Chargrin Falls, Ohio) tossed the final two innings. Applegarth was tagged with the loss in her first appearance on the mound, allowing 11 runs (five earned) on eight hits over 3 1/3. Applegarth had a game-high four strikeouts.