LUBBOCK, Texas – Gardner-Webb went 1-1 on the opening day of the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic on the campus of Texas Tech University, defeating Jacksonville State, 3-2, but falling to the host school, 8-0, in five innings.
Game One: Gardner-Webb 3, Jacksonville State 2
The Runnin' Bulldogs took an early lead with two runs in the second inning plated the game-winning run in the sixth, as they won their third consecutive game, 3-2, over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
Brooke Perry, who also hurled a complete game, drew a leadoff walk to start the top of the second, and
Autumn Owen reached on an error to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a pair of baserunners. With one out,
Meredith Ferguson singled to left field, scoring Owen.
Owen would score from third one batter later via a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Weslyn Almond and after its half of the second inning, Gardner-Webb held a 2-0 lead.
Perry retired the Gamecocks in order in the second and struck out two of the three batters she faced, and allowed only a walk in the bottom of the third.
Jacksonville State managed to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth frame. The Gamecocks used three hits, including a leadoff double followed by a base knock to left field.
A sacrifice fly and RBI double plated two runs, but Perry got out of the inning with a strikeout, leaving a JSU runner 60 feet from home.
The two teams accounted for three combined singles in the fifth but no runs, and it was Almond who was the hero for GWU in the top of the sixth.
The sophomore, who has played exclusively at shortstop this season, was the fourth batter of the inning. With
Jenna Wacaster on first, Almond smacked the third pitch of her at-bat down the right field line for an RBI triple. Almond gave Gardner-Webb a 3-2 lead, and Perry did not surrender a run over the final two innings, as the Runnin' Bulldogs held on for the victory.
Perry (8-3) threw a complete game and gave up just two runs. She fanned nine batters and walked a pair. Jacksonville State's Nicole Rodriguez took the loss. She surrendered one run in four innings of relief.
Five Gardner-Webb batters recorded a hit – Almond, Ferguson, Perry,
Trinity Sterrett and
Annamarie Warley. The Gamecocks got seven hits off Perry with Savannah Sudduth leading the way with three.
The victory helped Gardner-Webb improve to 13-6 overall and was the team's first win in the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic on the campus of Texas Tech University. Jacksonville State dropped to 10-5 overall after opening play with a 4-1 win over Northern Colorado in eight innings.
Game Two: Texas Tech 8, Gardner-Webb 0
Kaylee Wacaster singled in the first inning, but it was the only hit that the Runnin' Bulldogs would get off Texas Tech's Missy Zoch in an 8-0 loss. The 15
th-ranked Red Raiders scored six runs over the first two innings on their way to the victory.
The Red Raiders got a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and plated four more runs in the second – two off an RBI double and two more on a pair of RBI singles – to lead 6-0.
The Runnin' Bulldogs did not manage a base runner in the third and fourth innings, but
Lauren Huffman walked in the top of the fifth. Huffman reached base with two outs, drawing a walk on a full count, and Warley entered as a pinch runner, but Zoch got a game-ending strikeout.
Laken Myers (4-3) took the loss for Gardner-Webb. Myers threw one inning and surrendered five earned runs on six hits.
Madi Lewis threw an inning in relief of Myers, while
Reah Barger tossed the final two innings.
Zoch went the distance for Texas Tech, earning her seventh win of the year. She remains undefeated, while the Red Raiders are now 21-1 and have won eight straight games.
Gardner-Web drops to 13-7 with the loss and will return to action tomorrow, Saturday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m. ET against Northern Colorado. Gardner-Webb will be the home team in the neutral site contest, which will take place at Rocky Johnson Field.
