The Belmont Abbey softball team closed the regular season with a
doubleheader split with the visiting Anderson University Trojans,
taking game one 4-1 behind Kasey Kerley's three hits and three runs
scored, before falling in the nightcap 2-0. All three of Anderson's
runs were unearned. The Abbey finishes the regular season with a
record of 20-24 overall and 11-9 in Conference Carolinas, while
Anderson is 22-16 overall and 12-6 in Conference Carolinas. The
Abbey's 11 wins are the most since the Crusaders finished 14-9 in
2006.
In game one, Abbey starting pitcher Emily Self held Anderson to
just one unearned run on six hits as the offense scored four times
to give her all the support she needed. The Crusaders struck first
in the bottom of the first. Kerley beat out an infield single and
was sacrificed to second by Megan Riveros. A single by Carol-Anne
Sherill moved her to third, and Anna Smart brought her home on a
groundout to second.
Anderson gained the equalizer in the third as it took advantage
of an Abbey error. After Self retired the first two batters,
Meredith Knox singled to left. Emily Monteith followed with a
single to center. The ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing
Knox to score all the way from first to knot the game at one.
The Crusaders got the run right back in the bottom of the frame
as Kerley led off with an infield single, stole second, and moved
to third on Sherrill's long flyout to right. Smart gave the Abbey
the lead for good with a ringing double off the wall in right
center to put the Crusaders ahead to stay, 2-1.
That was all of the scoring until the bottom of the fifth when
Belmont Abbey scored two insurance runs. Kerley slapped an infield
single to third and moved to second on a sacrifice by Riveros.
Sherrill served a double to the gap in right center, scoring
Kerley, to put the Crusaders up by two, 3-1. After a strikeout,
Becca Rothrock slapped a single off the rightfield line, scoring
Sherrill easily from second to up the advantage to 4-1.
Self made the lead stand up, as she allowed just one hit over
the final two innings, while retiring the side in order in the
seventh. She earned the win after fanning two and walking one in a
complete game effort, scattering six hits. Casey Deer took the
loss. She yielded four runs on ten hits in six innings, striking
out five.
Kerley had three of the Abbey's ten hits and scored three times.
Sherrill and Smart both collected two hits in three at bats with
two RBI. Rothrock had the other RBI.
Monteith and Elisa Sebastyan led the Trojans with two hits
apiece. The opening game lasted one hour and 27 minutes.
In game two, Abbey pitcher Kim Anders held the Trojans to just
two hits through six innings until Anderson took advantage of an
Abbey error to score two uenearned runs.
Anders and counterpart Katie Van Gieson held the opposing
offenses off the board for six innings. Anders escaped major damage
in the first inning as the Trojans put a runner on third with
nobody out, but she ended the threat with a groundout and two
strikeouts.
Neither team scored until the top of the seventh when the
Trojans scored twice. Pinch hitter Kinsley Durham led off by
advancing all the way to second on an Abbey error, and moved to
third on a sacrifice by Lora Daniel. After a walk, Anders
registered the second out by retiring Knox on a groundout to third.
Sebastyan followed with a single to right center, scoring Durham
for the first run of the game. Monteith pushed the lead to a pair
when she beat out an infield single to short, scoring Cameron
White, who had walked earlier. Anders ended the threat with a
groundout to short.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sami Michaelis reached on a bunt
single and moved to second on a wild pitch, but she was stranded
right there, as Van Gieson ended the game with a strikeout and a
pair of groundouts.
Van Gieson allowed eight hits over seven scoreless innings,
fanning six and issuing no walks. Anders allowed two unearned runs
on three hits, walking five and striking out four.
Knox, Sebastyan and Monteith had all three of the Trojans hits
with Monteith and Sebastyan recording one RBI each. Smart and
Michaelis both had two hits as the Crusaders finished with
eight.
Game One Box
Game Two Box