BOWLING GREEN, KY - The Gardner-Webb University softball team finished its stay at the Hilltopper Classic on Monday afternoon, leading early in both games before losses to Bradley and Western Kentucky

GAME ONE - Bradley 4, Gardner-Webb 2
The opening game on Monday afternoon at the Hilltopper Classic was a classic pitcher's duel for the first 4.5 innings, with two starting pitchers combining to allow just six hits and three runs. Freshman pitcher Hannah Frye bounced back from yesterday's defeat to toss 5.2 innings for the Runnin' Bulldogs, allowing just a single hit and a single run.

Scoreless entering the bottom of the fifth, Gardner-Webb would give Frye some run support with a two-spot and do it without putting a ball in play. Junior designated player Alli Stidham walked in the game's first run, before sophomore right fielder Trina Van Dyke was hit by a pitch the next at bat. Suddenly, Gardner-Webb held a 2-0 lead.

Bradley turned the game around in the final two innings however, adding a run in the sixth and three in the seventh to hand Gardner-Webb a 4-2 defeat. By way of three errors, all four Bradley runs came across the plate unearned.

In the contest, the Runnin' Bulldogs scattered six hits and walked five times. Senior catcher Jailyn Tineo led the way for Gardner-Webb at the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.

GAME TWO - Western Kentucky 10, Gardner-Webb 3
In the late game, hosts Western Kentucky used a four run fourth inning, and a six run fifth inning, coming from behind to hand the Runnin' Bulldogs a defeat.

Gardner-Webb got off to perhaps its best start of the weekend late Monday afternoon, getting runners on and bringing them around for a 3-0 lead by the middle of the fourth. Van Dyke continued a good individual day with an RBI single, before junior shortstop Ella Christopher cashed in with a single of her own for 2-0. Graduate third baseman Araceli Pesqueira then added her team-leading fourth home run of the year, pushing GWU in front 3-0.

Two doubles and a three run home ran allowed Western Kentucky back in the game in the middle innings, as the Hilltoppers eventually pulled away by a final of 10-3.

For the 'Dawgs, Tineo continued a solid individual day into the second game, collecting two hits in three at-bats. Pesqueira also added two hits and a run scored including her home run, while Van Dyke added a hit and a run for Gardner-Webb.

UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns to Brinkley Stadium on February 28th, opening Spring in The Springs with a doubleheader against IU Indy and Stony Brook at 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.