Bucknell University
Gardner-Webb
Bucknell Softball Splits Pair of Extra-Inning Games with Gardner-Webb and South Carolina
3/2/2008 7:00:00 AM | Softball
March 2, 2008
Bucknell vs. Gardner-Webb Box Score (W, 3-2 (8 in.))
Bucknell vs. South Carolina Box Score (L, 2-1 (8 in.))
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning by freshman Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) helped the Bucknell softball team to its second win of the year Saturday afternoon as it defeated Gardner-Webb in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The Bison also played an extra-inning affair with host South Carolina, but lost 2-1 after tying the score in the top of the seventh.
Both games Saturday were part of the South Carolina Gamecock Classic, a two-day, three-team event that will conclude Sunday with Bucknell facing the same two teams.
Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury), who was 3-for-4 in the contest, keyed the Bison offense in the game against the Bulldogs. She was the lone Bucknell player to register a hit in the first six innings as she had singles in the third and fifth innings. Her third hit of the game, an infield single with two outs in the seventh, scored Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) from third to tie the score at 1-1 and sent the game to extra innings.
Gardner Webb scored in the top of the eighth as four of the first five hitters in the inning reached base. Angie Walls's two-out single put the Bulldogs back on top 2-1. They had managed just four singles to that point in the game, with none coming in the same inning.
In the bottom of the eighth a leadoff single by Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) knocked starting pitcher Christine Murray from the game. Relief pitcher Alison Coffey hit Elyse Comenero (Fresno, Calif./Central), the first batter she faced. After a groundout by Shelly McCormack (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood), Snyder laced the game-winning single to right-center field for her first career RBIs.
Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) earned her second win of the year as she pitched her fourth complete game in five outings. She scattered seven hits, yielded two runs, just one of which was earned, and struck out five. Coffey picked up the loss for Gardner-Webb as she fell to 1-2 on the season.
In the nightcap against South Carolina, Bucknell tallied just two hits as Carlson had a single in the sixth and Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) posted a game-tying, two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh.
South Carolina (8-8) went up 1-0 in the first inning when leadoff hitter Ashton Payne doubled and Cagney Davis followed with an RBI single. However, Bucknell starter Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) settled down and yielded just two more hits through seven innings. She did walk four hitters during that span, but no Gamecock runner reached third base again until the eighth inning.
The first two South Carolina hitters in the eighth singled to knock McDonald from the game in favor of Heather Haskin (Noblesville, Ind./Thomas Scecina). Haskin retired the first two batters she faced, one on a sacrifice bunt, before Jacqueline Wetherbee singled to left-center to knock in the game-winning run.
Bucknell (2-5) played well defensively in the two games, committing just two errors. The Bison also yielded just 14 total hits, right on their season average.
Thanks to her four hits Saturday, Carlson is now leading Bucknell in hitting this season with a .318 average. Wiest lowered her ERA to 1.18 as she moved into a tie for sixth place in Bison history with 22 career wins.
Bucknell will face Gardner-Webb at 10 a.m. Sunday, while it will take on South Carolina at 2 p.m.
