ATHENS, Ga. – Brooklynn Maxwell had two hits and
Morgan Scott finished with six strikeouts to lead the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team during a 2-0 setback to No. 13 seed Duke in an opening round contest of the Athens Region at Jack Turner Stadium on the University of Georgia campus Friday afternoon.
UNCG, which left six runners on base and had the potential go-ahead run at the plate in three straight innings, will play the loser of the Georgia-Western Kentucky game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Duke plays the winner at noon.
Also collecting hits for the Spartans were
Makenna Matthijs and
Maycin Brown. This was Maxwell's ninth multi-hit game of the season. Matthijs notched her 61st hit of the season on her 12th double.
"I liked how our team worked so well together today," said Maxwell, who will always remember her first NCAA Tournament game. "Even though we were down, we kept pushing through and fighting against a higher-seeded opponent. I was hoping to have fun and being a freshman and not expecting much, I focused on having good at-bats and taking the pitches that I got. I was going to swing hard and see what happened."
Maxwell got the Spartans first hit of the game – an infield one she beat out with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Matthijs followed with a double to put runners at second and third. They did not budge.
A one-out walk from
Hannah Kincer and single by Brown in the fourth put two runners on. They were stranded. In the next inning, Maxwell singled with one out and
Delaney Cumbie walked with two outs. Again, UNCG left them there. The Spartans were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
"I thought we did a good job of getting runners on," UNCG head coach
Janelle Breneman said. "We had some really tough at-bats. We weren't as successful with getting leadoff runners on. Getting runners on was big for us today and we had some really great hitters at the plate with runners on base and I know they are going to come through tomorrow."
Six of UNCG's first nine hitters saw at least five pitches. The Spartans also hit into tough luck as some hard hit balls were right at Duke defenders.
Duke's first two batters took advantage of a tough defensive start for UNCG to score in the first inning. Duke's Deja Davis, who singled on Scott's second pitch, scored from second base when Gisele Tapia's sacrifice bunt was thrown into right field. Caroline Jacobson hit a two-out solo homer in the second inning for the Blue Devils. That was all the scoring.
The remainder of the game belonged to UNCG, which enjoyed the better of the action as nobody from Duke reached second base. Scott settled down and retired 10 of the next 11 hitters she faced through the fifth inning.
Scott got strikeouts to end the first, third and sixth innings.
"I felt very confident in the circle today," Scott said. "What worked well for me was keeping them off balance. I was able to move the heights on my pitches and I got them to chase on my change-up."
Now the Spartans are preparing to take the scenic route through the loser's bracket to win this regional. They are confident in their ability to do so. For a team that's overcome plenty this season, they are familiar with conquering adversity.
"We have the offense and pitching staff to come out to have success (Saturday)," Breneman said. "This is not how we wanted to start. We will dig deeper and be prepared to play every inning. I thought every at-bat in every inning we were in the game. I am proud of the fight and competitiveness we showed today."
