Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 By CHAD HENSLEY
Sports Information Contributor
GREENWOOD – The Lander softball team dropped its opening series in Peach Belt Conference action with a pair of losses to 15th-ranked Young Harris at Doug Spears Field Saturday afternoon.
Young Harris won game 1 with a 17-5 decision in five innings but had to come from behind late to take game 2 by an 8-4 margin.
Lander (11-7, 0-2 Peach Belt) took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Shannon Antonini belted her team-leading fourth home run of the season. Kyrah Phelix scored on the play after she reached on a 1-out walk.
Young Harris (16-4, 5-0 Peach Belt) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second before Haven Pesce leveled the score at 3-3 with her third homer of the season.
The Mountain Lions would put the game out of reach with six runs in the third and fourth innings each.
Delaney Guerreo's single in the bottom of the fourth to score Logan Coward and Alana Frye would give the Bearcats their final runs of game.
Antonini went 2-for-3 in Game 1 with two RBI, a run scored and a home run.
Barbara Cook (4-1) took her first loss of the season in the circle after only going 2.1 innings giving up nine runs on eight hits.
Jillian Terpenning and Haley Erwin smacked home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead, but the Mountain Lions would answer in a big way in the top of the fifth with five runs before taking the game 8-4.
Young Harris had an early 2-0 lead after the second inning and pitcher Jill Dixon had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fourth.
Guerrero would lead off the bottom of the fourth with a double to break up Dixon's no-hitter.
Guerrero would move over to third on a groundout by Phelix and later scored on a Antonini RBI fielder's choice to cut into the lead 2-1.
Lander starting pitcher Liz Gollin would hold Young Harris at bey in the fifth to set up Terpenning and Erwin in the bottom of the fifth.
Terpenning led off the bottom of the fifth with her first career home run as a Bearcat and tied the contest a 2-2.
Pesce would follow with a single before Frye grounded out to the catcher.
Erwin then gave the Bearcats their first lead of Game 2 with a shot that narrowly cleared the center field fence plating Pesce on the play for a 4-2 lead. The home run was also Erwin's first collegiate home run of her career.
Young Harris would get an RBI single and a grand slam to take a 7-4 lead after the sixth inning.
The Mountain Lions would get an insurance run in the seventh courtesy of a solo home run,
Gollin (4-3) took the complete-game loss after giving up eight runs with seven being earned on 10 hits and striking out six.
Lees-McRae will invade Greenwood for a non-conference doubleheader on Tues., March 23. First pitch for Game 1 is slated for noon and Game 2 for approximately 2 p.m. EDT.
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