PEMBROKE, N.C. – Flagler College swept a Peach Belt Conference softball doubleheader from UNC Pembroke this afternoon at the UNCP Softball Field. Flagler won the opener 12-1 in a game shortened to five innings and then won the second game 8-2.
Flagler improved to 18-15 overall and 5-3 in the Peach Belt. UNC Pembroke lost its fourth game in a row and dropped to 16-12 overall and 0-6 in conference play.
In the opener, the Saints tied a school record with 11 runs in one inning. The eruption came in the fifth inning, which broke a 1-all tie. Flagler sent 16 batters to the plate and collected 11 hits.
Garland Evans led off the fifth with a base hit and moved to second when
Genevieve Mangini was hit by a pitch.
Tatum Morgan followed with a single up the middle, which scored Evans from second base and gave Flagler a 2-1 lead.
Natalie Murphy kept the inning going with a base hit to center that scored Mangini. That knocked UNCP starter Malerie Leviner (6-5) out of the game. Her replacement, Breezy Yelton, didn't fare well in relief. She threw a wild pitch and then walked the batter to load the bases.
Haley Kirinsky hit a two-run single and
Maria Kappos followed with an infield single, to shortstop, to score another run.
Jaclyn Mijuskovic ripped a two-run double to left field and that would end Yelton's outing.
The next three Flagler batters hit singles and later,
Morgan Murphy hit a two-run single to right field to cap the scoring.
Ally Marcano (8-7) tossed a one-hitter, allowed one run, walked four and struck out three to record the win. She induced eight ground outs and four fly outs.
Natalie Murphy collected three singles, scored a run and had one run batted in.
Morgan Murphy singled twice, scored two runs and had two RBI. Evans hit two singles, scored two runs and drove in another. Kappos collected two singles, scored a run and had two RBI.
Leviner lasted four-plus innings, allowed six hits and five runs in the loss.
Taylor Gerhart's home run in the fourth was the only hit for the Braves.
In game two, Flagler scored early and often. An error on a dropped fly ball led to three unearned runs being scored in the first inning.
Morgan hit a single up the middle, with two outs.
Natalie Murphy lifted a fly ball to centerfield that was dropped by Bailey Hoch. Morgan scored all the way from first base and Murphy took second. Natalie's twin sister Morgan hit a double to left-center that scored Natalie.
Morgan Murphy later scored on a bases loaded walk.
Natalie Murphy socked a two-run home run in the second inning and Kappos hit a solo shot in the third.
Katlyn McCue (10-8) worked through a little trouble in the first three innings and settled down to retire 12 of 14 batters from the end of the third to the first two outs in the seventh. She scattered seven hits and allowed two runs. McCue induced 13 fly outs and four ground outs.
Evans, Morgan and Kirinsky each collected two singles.
Megan Miller went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and one RBI.
Raygan Larson (3-4) allowed 11 hits and five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched. She walked six and struck out four.
The 1-3 hitters for the Braves went 6 for 10 with two runs scored and two RBI. Gerhart went 2-for-3 with a double and she knocked in a run. Haleigh Epperson went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and one RBI. Rendi Wetherington collected two singles and scored a run.
Flagler heads to Florence, South Carolina and will face Francis Marion University tomorrow (March 25) at 1 p.m. in a conference doubleheader.
