Due West, SC – Erskine split a double-header with Wingate University in non-conference softball action this afternoon at the Erskine College Softball Complex. Erskine lost the first game 7-0 behind 6 defensive errors. Erskine bounced back to take the nightcap 1-0 as Heather Richey pitched an impressive five hit shutout.
In game one, Wingate took an early 2-0 lead, scoring a single run both the 2nd and 3rd innings. In the 2nd inning, Kasey Pendley singled home Hayley Whitley to put Wingate up 1-0. In the next inning, Erskine committed three consecutive fielding errors leading to the first of five unearned runs scored by the Bulldogs. In the fifth inning, Wingate blew the game open by scoring five more runs, four unearned, on another Erskine defensive miscue. Meanwhile, Wingate’s pitcher Allison Smith kept the Fleet hitters off-balance, limiting the Fleet to just five hits, all singles, over seven innings to earn her fifth win of the season. Kelsey Spurrier (Charlotte, NC, Butler High School) took the loss for the Fleet, tossing 5 innings while giving up 7 runs, 2 earned, on eight hits. Leigh Anne Shelley (Fork, SC, Lake View) pitched two shutout innings in relief.
Erskine reserved the tables on Wingate in the second game. Heather Richey (Abbeville, SC, Abbeville High School) scattered five hits over seven shutout innings while Erskine scored the game’s only run on a Wingate defensive miscue. Only twice did Wingate seriously threaten to score. In the first inning with two outs, Wingate’s 3 and 4 hitters ripped back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Richey got Whitley to ground out for the third out. In the top of the seventh, Wingate managed to load the bases with one out after a walk and two singles. Richey got two consecutive groundouts to earn her fourth win of the season along with her second shutout. Erskine scored their lone run in the third inning on a dropped fly ball allowing Whitney Brown (West Columbia, SC, Airport High School) to score, who had singled earlier in the inning. Wingate’s Ashley Brown took a very tough loss, giving up the one unearned on one hit over six innings.
Erskine is now 7-4-1 on the season while Wingate is 9-5.
Erskine opens conference play this Thursday when they travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to play Queens University. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
