LAURINBURG, N.C.— Looking to add on to its four-game winning streak, the Montreat softball team visited Laurinburg, N.C. Tuesday afternoon for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) doubleheader versus the St. Andrews University Knights. Staying hot, the Cavaliers claimed the opener, 8-2, before seizing the second matchup in merely five innings, 9-0. With the victories, the Cavs improved to 21-11 (9-5 AAC) this year.
Montreat did most of its damage during the initial three frames. A trio of consecutive two-out hits plated four runs in the top of the first.
Maggie Knight doubled home
Abigail Wyatt to open the scoring, while
Jasmine Rachal drove in Knight via a single to center.
Elizabeth Gergen's two-out, two-run blast capped off the four-run first for the visitors.
Haley Fethke pushed two more runs across in the second with her single to left, and
Amariya Miller extended the Cavalier advantage to 7-0 with an RBI during the third frame. Miller also plated the Cavs' final run of game one in the top of the seventh via a single to center.
Those eight runs were more than enough for
Rebecca Carson, who picked up her seventh win in the circle. The junior surrendered just three hits across six shutout frames, striking out three batters in the process. Carson faced the minimum during her final four innings of work. St. Andrews (3-25, 0-16 AAC) scored twice off
Deanna Waddell in the seventh, but Montreat still secured the triumph, 8-2.
Knight and Miller registered two knocks each as eight different Cavaliers combined for 10 hits in game one. Fethke, Gergen and Miller each notched a pair of RBIs, while Rachal scored and walked twice.
A trio of errors set the away side up for success right out of the gate in the latter half of Tuesday's doubleheader. Montreat scored its initial run on Gergen's batted ball that resulted in a fielding error.
Dayton Kell then laced a two-run single into center, which was promptly followed by another miscue that allowed an additional runner to score.
Leading 4-0 after one, the Cavs struck back with a fifth unearned run during the second inning. Wyatt stole second and third base, and a failed pickoff attempt coupled with a muffed catch brought the freshman home.
Montreat scored in four of its five trips to the plate. Kell contributed an RBI single in the third before
Alanna Hernandez launched a two-run rocket to left center. Meanwhile,
Maya Moro recorded her first career RBI on a single to left in the fifth.
Once again, the Cavaliers' pitching staff shut down the Knights' offense. Sealing a 9-0 shutout victory,
Mykenzie Flores and
Kendall Rubel combined to give up just three total hits. Flores snagged her third win by hurling four innings, while Rubel pitched a scoreless frame in relief.
Kell was the lone Cav to tally multiple hits in the second contest. She proved responsible for three RBIs, while Hernandez accrued two RBIs. Gergen and Wyatt scored twice during game two.
Montreat returns to Roxy Hines Softball Field next Tuesday for an AAC twin bill against the Brenau University Golden Tigers. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. in Black Mountain, N.C.
