Demorest, GA – Despite trailing in both contests on Saturday, the Piedmont College softball team saw some power hitting late in games to lead them to a doubleheader sweep of Meredith College. Abby Smith continued to be the hot hand, proving why she has the best batting average on the team, with a 5-for-9 day with four runs scored and 5 RBI, including a three-run bomb in a tie game for the walk-off victory in game one 11-8.
Whitney Wolfe was a perfect 5-for-5 from the plate in the two contests for Piedmont with three RBI and three runs scored. The Lady Lions have now won four games in a row and seven of the last eight contests, all at Walker Athletic Complex.
Game 1: Piedmont 11, Meredith 8
In a high-scoring affair where all but two runs were scored after the first three innings, it paid off to have the final at-bats as Abby Smith got every bit of the last pitch of the game with a walk-off 3-run blast to give Piedmont an 11-8 victory.
The Lady Lions got on the board early pushing a run across in the first and tacking on another in the third, but the scoring onslaught began in the top of the fourth. Meredith put up a five-spot on Piedmont with a 3-run homerun of their own in the inning to take the lead.
The Avenging Angels would add a run in each of the following innings, but Piedmont began to answer in the bottom of the sixth putting up a total of six runs, holding an 8-7 advantage going into the ninth, before Meredith scored to tie it in the top of the seventh.
En route to scoring those six in the sixth inning, Smith’s first two RBI of the game came when she doubled to right field scoring Abby Atkinson and Whitney Wolfe. Allison Vaughn singled to right center and advanced to second on the throw while scoring two as Smith and Laura Carter crossed home.
Hayden Savage entered as a pinch runner and completed the task assigned to her coming around to score on an Allyson Gentry ground out, and one batter later, Vaughn scored on a wild pitch to round out the scoring in the sixth for Piedmont.
At the plate, Abby Smith led the way going 3-for-5 in the game scoring three times and pushing across five RBI. The homer was her second of the season as she is now hitting .510 this season, tops on the team.
Wolfe was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate and scored twice herself, while Atkinson and Vaughn both tacked on a hit as well.
Sarah Walker earned her seventh win of the season moving to 7-3, pitching the complete game surrendering 14 hits, eight runs but only five were earned, and fanned three batters.
Game 2: Piedmont 12, Meredith 4
Once again, it took rallying back from a deficit but the Lady Lions completed the sweep of Meredith College with a 12-4 victory in six innings. The Avenging Angels scored their four runs early, leading 4-0 through the third inning, but in the fourth, the Lady Lions began to pile it on and scored 12 unanswered to take the second game.
Meredith took the lead with a run in the second inning and scored three more in the third to lead 4-0 after three innings, but the Lady Lions’ bats went to work in the fourth as they took the lead scoring six.
Abby Smith tripled to lead off the inning but was out at the plate after a fielder’s choice put Jessica Bagwell on first. Becka Ross singled and Allyson Vaughn walked to load the bases for Allyson Gentry who singled up the middle scoring Ross and Bagwell.
With two outs on the board, the Lady Lions saw two more runs come in as Whitney Wolfe hit the second triple of the inning scoring Gentry and Vaughn. Wolfe came in to score one batter later as Abby Atkinson drove her in. Atkinson would later steal third and eventually steal home after Laura Carter was walked.
Piedmont put up three more runs in the fifth on just two hits and did the same an inning later in the sixth to run-rule the Avenging Angels. The Lady Lions put up 12 runs on 11 hits in the game while holding Meredith to four runs on eight hits.
Lauren Bearden picked up her first win of the season to put her record at 1-0, pitching an inning and a third in relief while giving up just two hits, no runs and striking out a batter.
Whitney Wolfe led the way going a perfect 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and a run scored in game two while Allyson Gentry was 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. Abby Smith continued her success as she was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The Lady Lions will be right back on the field Sunday afternoon at noon playing host to North Carolina Wesleyan College. This will mark the final doubleheader home contest of a 12 game home stretch. As always, home events will be available on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
