GREENSBORO, NC The UNC Greensboro softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to East Carolina on Wednesday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Pirates took game one, 7-1 and claimed the sweep with a 2-1 win in the late game.
UNCG (14-27, 1-8 SoCon) was led by Mary Catherine Vercoe who was 3-of-5 from the plate with one run scored and one RBI. Lyndsay Mouse was 2-of-5 on the afternoon with one double and one RBI.
Amber Harrell and Hannah Angel each played one complete game. Harrell took the 7-1 loss in the early game after allowing seven runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Hannah Angel falls to 6-12 on the season after allowing two runs on five hits in the nightcap.
In the early game East Carolina used a leadoff double from Stacey Andrews in the top of the second, which lead to its first run of the contest. After Andrews advanced to third on a Jessica Johnson groundout, she scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Cristen Aona, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Pirates were able to extend their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third with a run from Angel Barrella who was pushed across home plate with a UNCG error.
East Carolina tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning before the Spartans had a chance to cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning. Lyndsay Mouse hit a leadoff double but was called out at third before UNCG had a chance to push her across home plate.
The Pirates would take a 7-0 led with three runs in the top of sixth inning from one hit and two Spartan errors before a triple from Mary Greenway put a runner in scoring position. Greenway was plated with an RBI single from Mouse to avoid the shutout.
The teams played quite evenly in the second game but East Carolina managed to put the first run on the board in the third inning. Barrella hit a leadoff single and moved to second on the throw before teammate Christina Merrida advanced her to third base with a sacrifice bunt. Barella was able to capitalize on a wild pitch to give ECU a 1-0 lead.
UNCG managed to tie things up with a home run from Vercoe in the bottom of the fourth but ECU shortstop Paige Baggett answered with a home run of her own to put the lead back with the Pirates.
The Spartans had one last try in the seventh and were able to put a runner on base with a single from Whitney Sirois. Kayla Hensley, who was pinch running for Vercoe, was able to move to second base with a wild pitch and East Carolina pitcher Brooke Swann walked Laura Olenderski but the game ended with a fly out to center field.
UNCG heads to Charleston, SC for a weekend league series with the College of Charleston. Doubleheader action gets underway on Saturday at 1 pm and concludes with a single game on Sunday with a scheduled 1 pm first pitch.
AGATE:
Game One
East Carolina....... 011 203 0 - 7 11 0 (28-21)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 001 0 - 1 5 2 (14-26)
Pitchers: East Carolina - SWANN, Brooke. UNC Greensboro - Amber Harrell.
Win-SWANN, Brooke(16-15) Loss-Amber Harrell(8-14) T-1:34 A-0
Game Two
East Carolina....... 001 010 0 - 2 5 1 (29-21)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 100 0 - 1 4 0 (14-27)
Pitchers: East Carolina - SWANN, Brooke. UNC Greensboro - Hannah Angel.
Win-SWANN, Brooke(17-15) Loss-Hannah Angel(6-12) T-1:39 A-174
HR ECU - BAGGETT, Paige.
HR UNCG - MaryCatherine Vercoe.
- UNCG -
