FORT MYERS, Florida – The Wilmington College softball team opened up its 2020 season by splitting a pair of games as part of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Sunday. The Fightin' Quakers defeated Kenyon College 1-0 and fell to Curry College 6-5 in 10 innings.
In game one, Kenyon, which entered the game 10-0, got a runner to second after a steal in the bottom of the second inning, but a strikeout looking ended the threat. Neither side threatened in the third, but the Quakers got their offense going in the top of the fourth. Hayley Suchland and Brooke Durbin led off the inning with consecutive singles. A Lizz Hadley groundout that followed moved the runners into scoring position, and Alecia Kemp drove home Suchland with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.
That proved to be the only run of the game. Suchland nearly drove in KenDahl Bowles in the top of the fifth, but the Ladies turned an 8-2 outfield assist. Kenyon could not solve Wilmington starter Grace Shell, who struck out six including four looking to earn the shutout.
Shell allowed just three hits to go along with the strikeouts and three walks. Emily Prater took the loss for Kenyon allowed one run on six hits to go along with two strikeouts.
Wilmington finished with six singles including two from Suchland. Megan Crager, Durbin, Hadley and Bowles had the other Quaker hits. Lauren Graf led Kenyon with a 2-of-3 game in defeat.
In game two, neither team scored until the fourth inning when the Quakers capitalized on a Curry error and a Hadley groundout scored Suchland. In the bottom of the fifth, it was Curry's turn to score some runs using an error as it plated three runs on three hits with a Quaker error.
Bowles got both of those runs back for Wilmington in the sixth as her single to right center scored both Kemp and Durbin. Neither team scored in the seventh and the game went into extra innings.
Both team utilized the international run rule (putting a runner on second base to begin innings beyond the seventh) to plate a single run in the eighth. Wilmington starter Alexis Stringfellow fended off the winning run at third base with less than two outs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Curry delivered with a walk-off, two-RBI hit in the bottom of the 10th.
Stringfellow took the loss allowing three earned runs with seven strikeouts and one walk in nine-plus innings pitched. Carrigan Costello earned a complete-game for Curry, scattering 10 hits in 10 innings.
Offensively, both Durbin and Kemp and multi-hit contests for Wilmington while Jordan Perzan, the individual responsible for the game-winning hit, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs for Curry.
Wilmington (1-1) faces Anna Maria University and Alfred State University tomorrow (Monday) at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. respectively.
