BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb softball team (23-8, 3-0 Big South) ran its winning streak to seven and finished off a weekend sweep of Charleston Southern (5-24, 0-3 Big South) on Saturday, winning both ends of a doubleheader, 14-7 and 8-7
Game One - Gardner-Webb 14, Charleston Southern 7
Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern traded blows early in Game One, with the two teams combining for 10 runs across the first two innings. After going down 2-0 in the top of the first, GWU rallied to lead with a four run bottom of the frame, capped off by a home run by senior pitcher
Alli Stidham
Stidham helped her cause again in the second, sending an RBI double off the wall in straight-away center field to quickly put GWU in front, 6-4
Tied again at 6-6 in the fourth, the Runnin' Bulldogs again responded in a big way. Senior first baseman
Maggie Knight put the bat to ball on an RBI double, junior left fielder
Brooke Freschi added an RBI single, and senior catcher
Caroline Johnson capped the five run inning with an RBI single back through the box. Through four, Gardner-Webb led 11-6
Sophomore second baseman
Reese Collier added one insurance run in the sixth, forcing home a run after reaching on an error. Knight then came back to the plate immediately after to tack on another, extending the Dawgs lead to 14-7
Stidham went the distance in the circle for the Runnin' Bulldogs with 7.0 innings, four earned runs allowed and nine strikeouts. The Saginaw, Texas native allowed just one run over the game's final three innings, while also going 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI
Also at the plate, Collier finished 2-for-5 with three runs scored, Knight was 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and two walks, and Johnson was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk
Game Two - Gardner-Webb 8, Charleston Southern 7
Gardner-Webb opened a big early lead in Game Two, but it was some late-inning heroics that made the difference in the final score
GWU started with five runs in the bottom of the first. The first came on a single to short by Stidham, next was a fielder's choice by senior right fielder
Jailyn Tineo, tying the game at 2-2. Johnson gave GWU the lead with a sac fly, then sophomore center fielder
Lauren Spainhower made it 4-2 after finding a hole in the left side. After sophomore third baseman
Caitlin Colley pushed another run home thanks to an error at second, Gardner-Webb was up 5-2 with just one run-scoring play hit outside of the infield
That was all the Runnin' Bulldogs scoring until the bottom of the sixth, where CSU entered holding a 6-5 lead after one run each in the third, fourth and top of the sixth. Spainhower tied the game with an RBI double before Colley gave GWU the lead for good. She homered off the roof of the hitting facility in left with two outs to turn the game around and give the Runnin' Bulldogs an 8-6 lead
Freshman right-hander
Glenna McLamb then did what was needed in relief and closed out an 8-7 win. McLamb tossed 4.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing five hits and three runs, getting the decision for Gardner-Webb
At the plate, Colley went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, one walk and the go-ahead home run, senior shortstop
Annicka McLaughlin was 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Spainhower was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI
UP NEXT
Non-Conference play resumes on Tuesday, March 17th when Gardner-Webb visits Queens for a single game at 4 pm
