NEED TO KNOW:
Game 1 Score: Piedmont 8, St. Olaf 1
Game 2 Score: Piedmont 5, St. Olaf 2
Records: Piedmont 13-8; St. Olaf 4-12
DEMOREST, Ga. – Piedmont University's softball team concluded nonconference play on Tuesday afternoon as the Lady Lions swept a doubleheader with St. Olaf College to improve the team's current winning streak to seven games.
Piedmont used a late-game offensive outburst to beat the Oles 8-1 in game one and managed to outlast the Minnesota-based team 5-2 in a competitive game two.
Game 1 – Piedmont 8, St. Olaf 1
Pitching was on full display early on in game one as St. Olaf's Abby Grismer and Piedmont's
EMMA MCBRAYER had hits at a premium for the first three innings.
McBrayer allowed just three hits across the first five frames while Grismer allowed just one hit for Piedmont during that time. But despite one-hitting the Lady Lions to that point, Grismer and her Oles teammates somehow found themselves facing a 3-1 deficit after five.
The Lady Lions scored twice in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a pair of walks from
JASMINE LOWERY and
HANNAH SMITH to start the inning.
KENNEDY VOTAVA would lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners over before
REBEKAH STEGMAYER's sacrifice fly to centerfield scored
KAITLIN ISLEY to put the Lions up 1-0.
Smith would score in the next at-bat as
DREW GRAHAM reached on an error to keep the inning alive and give Piedmont a 2-0 lead despite not having a hit in the game to that point.
The no-hitter didn't last much longer as
KARA TAYLOR led off the bottom of the fourth with a towering solo homer to left centerfield, her second of the year, to get Piedmont in the hit column.
The Oles would manage a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double from Anne Fossum, but a perfect relay from
TAYLOR BUCKNER and
HANNAH SMITH cut down Fossum at third to end the inning.
That would be the only run McBrayer surrendered in the game as she was lifted for reliever
FAITH VENTO to start the seventh after a five-run sixth inning for the Lady Lions put the game out of reach.
Taylor,
MADISON HENRY, and McBrayer all had RBI hits in the frame before pinch-hitter
JENNA BROACH launched the first pitch she saw to deep right field for a two-run homer that gave Piedmont an 8-1 advantage. The homer was the first of Broach's career and her first hit of the 2022 season.
Game 2 – Piedmont 5, St. Olaf 2
St. Olaf brought the fight right back to the Lady Lions to start game two as Fossum and Shreya Ashok laced back-to-back doubles off Piedmont starter
MARTINA MALOCH to start the game with an early 1-0 lead.
That lead was short-lived for the Oles as the Lions responded with a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom half.
HANNAH MORGAN got help from a funky hop as she pounded a ball passed shortstop Jordan Melz for a two-out, two-RBI single.
As she often does after surrendering an early run, Maloch locked back in and allowed just five more hits across the next five innings to hold the Oles scoreless going into the sixth. Piedmont held a 3-1 lead entering the sixth after an RBI groundout from Morgan plated an insurance run in the third.
A pair of doubles for St. Olaf in the sixth cut Piedmont's lead down to one and prompted a pitching change as McBrayer came on in relief and induced a pair of groundouts to end the St. Olaf threat.
Piedmont added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on a bases-loaded RBI single for Votava and a sac fly from Stegmayer before McBrayer closed out the win in the bottom half.
Maloch earned the win in game two after allowing two earned runs and striking out two St. Olaf batters. McBrayer, who earned the win in game one, was credited with a save in game two.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Piedmont's defense did not commit an error in Tuesday's doubleheader, the first time this season the team as gone error-free in back-to-back games.
- McBrayer, Maloch, and Vento combined to walk just three St. Olaf batters out of 59 total batters faced in the doubleheader.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
-
EMMA MCBRAYER totaled 7.2 innings pitched on the day and earned a win in game one and a save in game two. She allowed just one earned run and added a hit, an RBI, and a run at the plate.
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KARA TAYLOR went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a home run in game one and scored one run in each game Tuesday.
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HANNAH MORGAN went 2-for-3 in game two with three RBIs to account for three of the team's five runs in the game.
UP NEXT:
- The Lady Lions play again tomorrow, March 30, when they host conference foe Wesleyan for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on
Twitter: @PiedmontLions,
Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and
Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or
click here.
