RALEIGH, N.C. – The Sweet Briar College softball team (10-10, 2-2 ODAC) broke even with the William Peace University Pacers (11-7, 0-0 USA South) in this afternoon's road doubleheader.
The Vixens took game one 11-3, but fell in game two, 10-2.
Game One
After a quiet first inning, Sweet Briar broke through in the top of the second. Junior
Ambyre Taylor (Arrington, Va.) reached on an error to start the frame, and after a sacrifice bunt and a single by fellow junior
Jordan Dorrier (Buckingham, Va.), first-year pinch runner
Lexie Aiman (Stafford, Va.) stood on third. Sophomore
Annie Purvis (Madison Heights, Va.) then reached on an error by the shortstop to bring Aiman home for the game's first run. Later in the inning, with two outs, sophomore
Madeline Schmidt (Fluvanna, Va.) reached on an error by the left fielder that allowed both Purvis and Dorrier to score, giving Sweet Briar a 3–0 lead built entirely on aggressive baserunning and pressure on the William Peace defense.
The Vixens' offense erupted again in the top of the sixth. Taylor opened the inning with a single, and pinch runner sophomore
Emily Cottingham (Chesterfield, Va.) came on before sophomore
Abi Sawyers (Matthews, N.C.) launched a two-run home run to push the lead to 5–0. Sweet Briar kept the pressure on as senior
Ilka-Marie Kuleba (Endy, N.C.) singled and sophomore
Sydney Gibson (Fluvanna County, Va.) followed with another single. After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore
Leila Atienza (Jacksonville, N.C.) moved both runners into scoring position, Schmidt delivered again, grounding out to shortstop but driving in both junior
Ruby Hite (Clarksville, Va.) and Kuleba to extend the advantage to 7–0.
Sweet Briar put the game completely out of reach with a four-run seventh. First-year
Sophia Peterson (Ashland, Va.) drew a leadoff walk, and Cottingham sacrificed her to second. Sawyers then reached on an error by the third baseman, allowing Peterson to score. With two outs, Purvis ripped a run-scoring double to plate Sawyers and junior
Ciara Nauful (Forest, Va.) followed by reaching on an error by the catcher, bringing Purvis home. Schmidt capped the inning with an RBI single to right field, scoring Nauful and setting the final Sweet Briar total at 11 runs.
Game Two
Sweet Briar's offense broke through in the third after trailing 3-0, starting when junior
Jordan Martin (Wilmington, N.C.) reached on an error at first to open the inning. Peterson followed by driving a double to center field to plate Martin with an unearned run and cut the deficit to 3–1. Moments later, Dorrier pushed the second run across with a groundout to second, bringing Peterson home and trimming the William Peace lead to a single run at 3–2.
The Pacers would tack on seven more runs in the bottom of the fifth to close out the game with the score at 10-2.
Highlights
- Schmidt totaled a career-high five RBIs in game one.
- In game two, Peterson went two-for-three and totaled one RBI and one run with a double.
What's Next
The Vixens will head to Southern Virginia on March 24th.
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vixenathletics.com, to stay up-to-date on all Vixens sports and access live video coverage from the
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