MACON, Ga. -- Senior designated player
Kayleigh Willis went 3-for-3 with two home runs and seven RBIs, leading UNCG to an 11-3 victory over Mercer in the second game as the Spartans rallied to split a Southern Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Sikes Stadium.
Sophomore third baseman
Maycin Brown added a solo home run and junior left fielder
Hannah Kincer hit a two-run shot for the Spartans (27-15 overall, 10-4 SoCon), who pushed their program-record home run total to 71 this season. This was the seventh time this season UNCG hit at least four home runs in a game.
Mercer won the first game 2-1 in a pitchers' duel. The Bears (21-19 overall, 6-7 SoCon) are fighting for fourth place in the league standings and the last qualifying spot in the conference tournament.
Spartan senior right-hander
Hannah Stiltner (5-5, 5.52 ERA) allowed three runs on five hits to win the second game, which ended after five innings because of the NCAA mercy rule. UNCG's last two victories have been by eight runs.
Willis was at the center of the offense that put up all those runs. The senior reached base in all four of her plate appearances. She drew a walk in the first inning, hit an RBI single in the third, then smacked three-run homers in the fourth and fifth innings.
The seven RBIs are one off the single-game program record held by Nicole Thomas, who had eight in a game against Gardner-Webb in 2014. Willis is the sixth player in program history to finish with seven RBIs in a single-game joining Kelly Councilman (1988), Karyn Thompson (1996), and current teammates
Makenna Matthijs (2018),
Jordan Gontram (2018), and
Delaney Cumbie (2018).
Cumbie went 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch, scoring runs all three times she reached base.
Willis reached base in seven of her eight plate appearances in the doubleheader, going a combined 4-for-5 with three walks. The only "out" she made was a two-run home run in the first game that didn't count. Willis re-entered that game in the third inning after being pinch-run for in the first, but the re-entry was not properly reported.
The home run was taken away, and Willis was called out.
Even so, the big day raised Willis' batting average to team-best .368.
Senior center fielder
Makenna Matthijs went a combined 3-for-6 with three runs scored in the doubleheader, boosting her batting average to .359.
In the opener, Mercer right-hander Ashlyn Donner (9-4, 3.55 ERA) pitched a complete game, allowing a run on six hits and four walks. Donner pitched out of several jams, as UNCG left 10 runners on base, two each in five different innings, and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Sophomore right-hander
Morgan Scott (14-8, 2.21 ERA) was the tough-luck losing pitcher in the opener. Scott gave up just one earned run on four hits and a walk, striking out six in six innings.
Mercer scored both its runs in the third inning. Tori Ash hit one-out solo home run, and Micayla Rood reached on a throwing error and scored on Allie Jones' two-out RBI single.
UNCG had chances in the fifth and seventh innings to tie or take the lead, but couldn't capitalize.
The Spartans loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth on singles by Matthijs and Cumbie and a walk to Willis. But UNCG got just one run when
Jasmine Palmer's to shortstop was misplayed. Matthijs scored, but Cumbie was thrown out at the plate. Donner retired the next two hitters on a popout and a flyout to get out of the jam.
Donner notched her only strikeout of the game to get the final out after UNCG had put runners at first and second on a two-out walk to Willis and Palmer's single.
UNCG and Mercer wrap up their series with a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday. The second-place Spartans close out the regular season next weekend with a three-game series against SoCon-leading Western Carolina at UNCG Softball Stadium.
