Posted: Mar 16, 2022
FORT MYERS, Florida - The Wilmington College softball team ran its winning streak to four games with victories over previously unbeaten University of Wisconsin-Superior 5-0 and the University of Maine-Presque Isle 10-2 on Wednesday.
In game one, a Lindsey Carter double in the top of the first would come around to score as Hayley Suchland put a bunt down attempting to advance Carter in the next at bat, but the throw went into right field. That run would prove to be the game-winner as Alexis Stringfellow, alongside a stout Fightin' Quaker defense, would not surrender a run.
A Bailey Hypes RBI-single that scored Arianna Layne doubled the Wilmington advantage in the fourth. McKenna Archey looked to score another run as she hit a rope to left field, but a fantastic throw from right field gunned down Hypes at home plate.
Stringfellow, who only allowed a runner to get to second base in the second and sixth innings, got out of the sixth by inducing a flyout and a strikeout. Wilmington gave its pitcher three more runs of support in the seventh as Mollie Moore singled home McKayla Sites and a rare sacrifice fly to first base scored another run. A Suchland single to left field scored the game's final run, which was unearned.
Stringfellow earned the shutout, scattering four hits with three strikeouts with no walks in seven innings. Tayler Kraemer took the loss, her first of the season, allowing five runs (three of them earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts.
Archey and Moore went 2-of-3 for WC while Carter hit the lone extra base hit of the game for both teams. Jessica Jacobson had two of the Yellowjackets hits. Kraemer, the starting pitcher for UW-Superior, committed all three of the team's errors.
In the nightcap victory, the Owls plated two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Quakers got one back in the second on an RBI-single from Moore and tied the game an inning later as Suchland scored on a passed ball. Starting pitcher Izzy Rothrock worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game tied 2-2.
In the top of the fifth, Archey, who didn't get an RBI in game one, delivered this time as a shot down the left field line scored both Hypes and Layne. A double play prevented the Quaker lead from growing further, but Carter, who relieved Rothrock in the fifth, kept Maine-Presque Isle off the scoreboard. In the sixth, consecutive doubles from Suchland and Layne put Wilmington ahead 6-2, and a four-run seventh inning put the game away.
Rothrock won her first collegiate game, allowing two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts in four innings pitched. Carter allowed a single hit over two innings while Madi Jursich struck out the side in the seventh. Olivia Riitano dipped to 0-6, allowing 10 runs (four earned) on 13 hits in 6.2 innings for the Owls.
Offensively, Suchland and Layne did the damage as Suchland went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored while Layne was 4-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Jordan Hansen and Dalaney Anfinson had two hits each for Maine-Presque Isle in defeat.Wilmington (4-4) will close out its spring trip with games against Central College (Iowa) and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Canton at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) respectively.
