TIGERVILLE, S.C (April 6) – Behind four homers in Game 1, the University of Mount Olive softball team posted a doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon at North Greenville in Conference Carolinas action.
With the split, the Trojans move to 29-10 overall behind a 10-4 mark in conference play. The two sides have split the league series three consecutive seasons while ranking among the top four in the KPI standings, which determines seeding. Meanwhile, the Crusaders stand at 27-15 this season with an 11-5 record in conference action.
In Game 1, sophomore
Emily Cassidy delivered a two-run homer to left field in the top of the second inning, her third of the year, to give UMO an early 2-0 edge. After both teams left the bases loaded in their next half inning, the Trojans stretched the lead to 3-0 behind a solo homer to left-center by senior
Carly Curcio, her eighth of the season.
The Crusaders cut into the deficit in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to trail by a 3-1 margin. In the top of the seventh, senior
Lark Collins produced a two-out, two-run homer to right-center to build a 5-1 advantage before Curcio went back-to-back with her second home run of the game, 6-1. NGU tallied one run in the bottom half of the frame, as UMO secured a 6-2 win.
Senior
Courtlynn Cooney finished 3-for-4 at the plate while Curcio and Cassidy each tallied two hits and two RBI on Saturday.
Sophomore
Bri Verme improved to 7-3 in the circle after yielding one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 6.0 innings (84 pitches).
In Game 2, the Trojans climbed out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after freshman
Laci Best laced an RBI double, 1-0. North Greenville countered in the bottom of the first with its own RBI double to tie the contest at 1-1. Following a scoreless second frame, Best drove in another run with an RBI single to left field, 2-1.
NGU claimed its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth behind back-to-back bases-loaded walks to take a 3-2 edge. In the fifth, the Crusaders brought three more runs across the plate to build a 6-2 advantage. UMO left one runner on base over the final two frames, as North Greenville claimed the win.
Best went 2-for-4 with two RBI while senior
Kylie Emanuele and Curcio each totaled two hits.
Senior
Hannah Killough suffered the loss (9-6) after surrendering six earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and six walks in 4.2 innings (107 pitches).
Mount Olive returns to Nancy Chapman Cassell Field on Tuesday, April 9, to face rival Barton in a doubleheader at 2 p.m.
