FORT MYERS, Florida – The Wilmington College softball team won six-inning games on Tuesday, defeating Nazareth College (New York) 8-0 and Elms College (Massachusetts) 15-0 on day three of the team's spring trip to Florida.
In the win over Nazareth, Je'Taysia Johns got the scoring started with a home run, her second in as many days, in the bottom of the second. After stranding a Golden Flyer in the top of the third the Fightin' Quakers blew the game wide open in the bottom of the inning.
KenDahl Bowles got things started with a single up the middle, and after an out, Megan Crager drove her home with a triple to right center and scored herself via an error on the same play. Two singles and two fielder's choices that followed loaded the bases with two outs, and Johns delivered again, this time with a bases-clearing triple to right center. One batter later, Jillia Cook singled to right field, scoring Johns for the sixth run of the inning.
Neither team scored for two innings until Wilmington, up 7-0, ended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Hayley Suchland since that scored Crager.
Alexis Stringfellow improved to 1-1 on the season scattering five hits with a strikeout in six innings. Kylie Smith took the loss for Nazareth by allowing 13 hits and eight earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched.
Wilmington finished with 13 hits including seven from the first three in the lineup. Crager went 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Suchland and Brooke Durbin both added two hits. Johns finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored.
Janelle Walters led Nazareth with a 2-for-3 performance.
In the win over Elms, Crager walked to open the game, stole second and scored on a triple from Suchland. After a popout, Alecia Kemp hit an infield single, scoring Suchland. The sophomore also started for the Quakers on the mound and allowed just one hit the entire game, which came in the second inning. Wilmington struck for a 5-run third inning and plated eight runs in the sixth for a convincing victory.
Suchland tallied one strikeout an inning in the shutout while Sofie Oliveira took the loss allowing eight earned runs with eight walks. Offensively, Wilmington had 11 hits as a team. Suchland finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored while Kemp went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Seven other Quakers had one hit.
Wilmington (5-1) faces SUNY Oneonta and Rochester Institute of Technology tomorrow (Wednesday).
