BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb extended its win streak to nine games Sunday afternoon, taking both ends of a doubleheader over Mount St. Mary's. GWU won the opener in five innings, 10-1, and took a 3-2 win in the finale.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (15-3) used a big inning to win the opener and a group effort in the pitching circle to hold off the Mountaineers in the second game.
Game 1 Recap: Gardner-Webb 10, Mount St. Mary's 1 (5)
Weslyn Almond capped a 10-run fifth inning burst for Gardner-Webb, ending the game with a three-run home run.
Gardner-Webb sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive half inning, with Almond collecting a pair of hits and four RBI in the fifth.
Pitcher
Andrea Lyon picked up the win, allowing just three hits and one run in 5.0 innings of work. She struck out six to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Almond went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in the win.
Autumn Owen (2-for-3) and
Kayleigh Nicholson (2-for-3, RBI) each had two of Gardner-Webb's 11 hits.
Lyon went 1-for-3 with an RBI at the plate.
Brooke Perry (1-for-3, RBI),
Molly Montgomery (1-for-1, 2B, RBI) and
Jenna Wacaster (1-for-1, RBI) also had hits for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Avery Neuhart took the loss for Mount St. Mary's, allowing three runs on six hits in 4.1 innings of work.
Game 2 Recap: Gardner-Webb 3, Mount St. Mary's 2
Mount St. Mary's opened up a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Gardner-Webb would rally once again.
Ashlee Baker belted a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to pull GWU to within one run, and
Andrea Lyon tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third.
Baker gave Gardner-Webb the lead in the bottom of the sixth, plating
Jenna Wacaster with an RBI groundout. Wacaster led off the sixth with a big hit, legging out a triple.
Reah Barger got the start in the circle for GWU, working 2.0 innings and allowing just one earned run in a no decision.
Laken Myers (2-1) came on in relief and was strong, working 4.0 scoreless frames and allowing just one hit. She struck out four batters.
Lyon picked up her first career save, coming on to strike out one batter in a perfect seventh inning.
Baker paced Gardner-Webb's four-hit attack, going 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI.
Jordan Weaver went the distance for Mount St. Mary's, allowing two earned runs (three runs) on six walks and four hits. She struck out four batters.
Designated hitter Shelby Holcomb led The Mount with a 2-for-3 offensive performance.
GWU will host another tournament next weekend, facing North Carolina Central at 2:00 pm Friday (February 28) and Harvard at 4:00 pm that same day to open the 2020 AmericInn Lodge & Suites Softball Invitational at Gardner-Webb.
