Demorest, GA – A hot-hitting Battling Bishops team cost the Lady Lion softball team a sweep of N.C. Wesleyan as the two split their doubleheader Sunday at Walker Athletic Complex. The Battling Bishops won a 9-5 contest to open the day and the Lady Lions took game two 2-1 for the series split.
That loss in game one snapped a four-game win streak for Piedmont but with the split, the Lady Lions have won eight of the last ten games. Sarah Walker picked up both decisions on the game with the loss in game one and a victory in the second outing.
Whitney Wolfe nearly continued her streak of perfection as she was a perfect 5-for-5 Saturday against Meredith and was 3-for-4 against N.C. Wesleyan.
Game one: N.C. Wesleyan 9, Piedmont 5
An 11-hit effort by the Battling Bishops that led to nine runs proved to be too much for the Lady Lions as N.C. Wesleyan took game one. Sarah Walker was the starter for the Lady Lions and pitched all but the final two outs of the game as she took the loss.
Walker gave way to Lauren Bearden who closed out the contest giving up just a single walk. The Battling Bishops got off to a good start scoring two in the top of the first to take the lead initially, but the Lady Lions answered back with two of their own in the bottom half of the frame off an Abby Smith homerun, her second in as many days, scoring Laura Carter as well.
Piedmont took the lead the next inning with a single run in the bottom of the second by Whitney Wolfe who singled through the right side bringing in Allyson Gentry to score. An inning later, PC again added a run to lead 4-2 as Carter again scored off a Smith hit, this time a double to right center.
The Lady Lions would lead by as many as three after a Wolfe walk in the bottom of the fourth and Gentry scored on an illegal pitch. That was the final run the Lady Lions would manage however, but the Battling Bishops were just getting warmed up.
In the top of the fifth, the Bishops bats were hot as they scored six runs on four hits and an error. N.C. Wesleyan sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning stranding two at the end of the frame.
Piedmont was only able to manage three hits in the final three innings of play, but unable to string anything together though two of those hits came in the bottom of the seventh. Abby Smith again led the way going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored including her two-run homerun in the bottom of the first inning.
Game two: Piedmont 2, N.C. Wesleyan 1
Game two was a different story from the high scoring affair that preceded it as the two teams both had five hits in the contest with the Lady Lions coming away with a 2-1 win. Sarah Walker picked up the win in relief of starter Avery Migues as Walker pitched two and a third innings giving up just one hit and one walk.
It was a pitcher’s duel until the fifth inning when the Battling Bishops got on the board to take a 1-0 lead. N.C. Wesleyan picked up a single by the lead-off hitter, but snuffed the runner on a fielder’s choice, leaving a runner at first. She would later come around to score on a single through the left side, at which point, Coach Terry Martin chose to pull his starter and put in Walker in relief.
Piedmont answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth as Maryrose Burns scored off a Carter sac fly and Wolfe scored after Smith reached on an error. In the sixth, Piedmont picked up a pair of hits but stranded both runners.
The Battling Bishops got a double in the top of the seventh and looked to tie the game and extend it, but the final out of the game came as Bagwell threw out the runner at third.
Piedmont now has just a single doubleheader on the schedule at home for the remainder of the season with Huntingdon College visiting Walker Athletic Complex on April 4. The Lady Lions are currently 8-4 in the friendly confines.
The Lady Lions will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to take on Maryville College in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
