GWU Softball Drops Two to Winthrop at Home on Wednesday
April 13, 2011 | Softball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb softball team left a combined 19 runners on base over the double-header loss to the Winthrop Lady Eagles at Varsity Field in Boiling Springs, N.C. on Wednesday afternoon. Gardner-Webb fell behind in both games, falling 7-3 in game one and 5-1 in game two in Big South Conference action.
The two losses drops Gardner-Webb to 11-19 overall and 3-5 in the Big South Conference, while Winthrop improves to 14-24 overall and 4-6 in conference play with the two road wins.
Game 1: Winthrop 7, Gardner-Webb 3
Winthrop jumped out to a huge 7-0 lead before the Runnin' Bulldogs got on the scoreboard in the late innings, falling to the Lady Eagles 7-3 in game one.
The Lady Eagles scored two runs on three hits in the first and another run in the top of the second by way of a GWU error, walk and sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead after two innings.
After Gardner-Webb recorded two singles in the bottom of the third, yet failed to score, Winthrop added a run in the fourth on a Megan Chapman RBI single and three runs in the top of the fifth off back-to-back home runs by Kathryn Eberlin and Chelsey Schoenfeldt to soar out to a 7-0 lead.
Gardner-Webb finally scored in the bottom half of the sixth, as junior Lindsea Hutchinson led off the inning with a solo shot over the left field fence, her first home run of the season.
Down 7-1 in the seventh, Gardner-Webb posted two runs on an RBI ground out by McKenzie Morenus and an RBI triple by Hutchinson, only to have the comeback fall short in a 7-3 home loss.
Winthrop's Schoenfeldt (7-8) earned the complete game winning, holding GWU to three runs on 10 hits, while striking out one in seven innings of work.
GWU freshman Jessica Childers (7-8) got the loss, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, on eight hits, while striking out two over 4.1 innings of action.
Hutchinson led the way for GWU offensively, as the designated player was 2-4 with a home run, triple, two RBIs and a run scored, while freshman second-baseman Samantha Meenaghan was 3-4 with a run scored and Morenus was 1-4 with an RBI.
Game 2: Winthrop 5, Gardner-Webb 1
Again Winthrop jumped out to a huge lead in game two, scoring four runs in the top of the first en route to a 5-1 win over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Winthrop carried over the momentum of its win in game one into game two, scoring four runs on five hits in the top of the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead over Gardner-Webb.
GWU looked to answer in the bottom half of the first, putting runners on first and third with two outs, only to see the inning end on a line out to right field, stranding two on base.
Both offenses struggled over the next two innings, as Gardner-Webb finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, as Morgan Baker scored on an RBI double off the bat of Morenus to cut the Winthrop lead to three at 4-1.
However, Winthrop got the run back in the top of the fifth, as Eberlin singled up the middle to score Chapman, who reached base on an error to lead off the inning, to push its lead back to four at 5-1.
Over their final three at bats, Gardner-Webb left five runs stranded on base and failed to score, ultimately falling to the Lady Eagles 5-1 in game two.
Winthrop's Natalie Becker (4-8) picked up the complete game win, allowing only one run on four hits and six walks, while striking out eight GWU hitters in the win.
GWU's Cindy Boomhower (4-10) suffered the loss, as the junior gave up five runs, four of which were earned, on 10 hits, while striking out four in seven innings of work.
At the plate, Morenus was 2-4 with a double and an RBI, while Melinda Dulkowski was 1-3 and Meenaghan was 1-4 for the game.
For the Lady Eagles, Kelly Blea was 3-3 with an RBI, while Veronica Berrie was 1-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Eberlin was 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Chapman was 1-4 with two runs scored.
The two losses snapped Gardner-Webb's winning streak at two-games, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will not have long to regroup as the Liberty Lady Flames come to town for a three-game conference weekend series starting this Friday, April 15th at 2 p.m.
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| Game 1 Box Score: Winthrop 7, Gardner-Webb 3 |
| Game 2 Box Score: Winthrop 5, Gardner-Webb 1 |
