BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb softball team split day one at the Red and Black Classic, nearly storming back to beat Lehigh in the early game, followed by a solid win over Queens in the nightcap, in both games led by the middle of the lineup
Game One - Lehigh 11, Gardner-Webb 10
To say the Runnin' Bulldogs started slow in the first game of the day would be an understatement, with a five-run fifth inning and a three-run top of the sixth the highlights for visiting Lehigh, who led 10-2 after five and half
GWU opened the contest with back to back RBI doubles, one courtesy of
Reese Collier and the next from
Maggie Knight, to take a 2-0 lead. Behind its power bats however, Lehigh scored the next 10 runs of the game unanswered
Gardner-Webb nearly clawed all the way back with a wild bottom of the sixth inning.
Alli Stidham led-off with a triple to right, she'd be brought home on an RBI single by
Lauren Spainhower to make it a 10-3 game.
Caitlin Colley would find herself at the center of the action in the sixth and seventh, starting with a two-RBI double down the left field line
After a dropped ball at the fence by the Lehigh center fielder off the bat of Collier allowed two more runs to score including Colley, Gardner-Webb had managed to cut the Mountainhawks lead to just 10-7. Knight returned to the plate to double in another run, the sixth of the frame, as GWU had climbed back in the game from nowhere, trailing just 10-8. The GWU half of the sixth featured six runs, four earned, four hits, and an error
Lehigh pulled a run back to lead 11-8 going to the bottom of the seventh before Gardner-Webb eventually still put the winning run on base. Colley singled back through the box with two outs, allowing Spainhower and
Jailyn Tineo to score to make the score 11-10. Colley was aboard as the decisive run before a strikeout ended the contest, with the Runnin' Bulldogs just feet away from a miraculous comeback
Despite coming up short, Gardner-Webb managed to score its final eight runs of the game with just six outs remaining on the board
Colley, Knight, Spainhower and
Annicka McLaughlin all recorded at least two hits for the Dawgs, while Colley finished with four runs batted in and a run scored
Game Two - Gardner-Webb 6, Queens 4
The nightcap featured far less dramatics but saw the Runnin' Bulldogs erase a 3-0 hole in the second inning to pick up a 6-4 win
Colley and Collier were once again the stars for GWU. In the bottom of the third, Colley opened the scoring with an RBI single back through the box before Collier doubled the Stoufville, Ontario native into scoring position with an RBI single, bringing the Queens lead to just 3-2. Collier and Colley came around to score on an RBI single down the left field line by Knight, putting the Dawgs in front 4-3
Stidham wound up stealing the show in game two however, capping off a six-run bottom of the third. The Saginaw, Texas native and Big South Preseason All-Conference pick crushed a pitch off the roof of the left-field hitting facility and deep into the night, putting Gardner-Webb in front 6-4
Despite pegging GWU back for one run in the seventh, Queens was held at bay by
Hannah Frye in the circle. Frye finished off 5.2 innings of relief, picking up the win after allowing just one unearned run and five hits to the Royals offense
Colley and Stidham each recorded two hits a piece, while Knight and Stidham each finished with two runs batted in for Gardner-Webb in the victory
IN THE STATS
Across both games combined, the Gardner-Webb quartet of Stidham, Colley, Collier and Knight finished 12-of-30 (.400) at the plate, with 13 runs batted in and eight extra bases hits split between them
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns to action in the Red and Black Classic on Saturday at 3:00 and 5:30, taking on Tennessee Tech and Lehigh
