Wilson, NC – Erskine kicked off their four-game road trip by beating Barton College 3-0 and 11-6 in Conference Carolinas softball action at Jeffries Field. With the sweep, the Fleet climb to 13-8-1 overall and 6-2 in conference. Meanwhile Barton had a nine-game win streak snapped and falls to 16-18 overall and 2-4 in conference.
Sophomore Kelsey Spurrier (Charlotte, NC, Butler High School) pitched a three-hit shutout to win the first game 3-0. Erskine scored two runs in the third inning on a two-run single down the left field line by senior Lindsey LaPrad (Summerville, SC, Fort Dorchester HS). The Fleet added an unearned run in the next inning on a passed ball. The Fleet had six hits in the game, all singles.
Barton’s lone scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning when Elizabeth Webb hit a one-out single up the middle and moved to third on a single by Kendall Street. Spurrier fanned the next Barton hitter to end the inning. Spurrier finished with nine strikeouts and did not issue a walk in earning her sixth win of the season. Emily Jordan took the complete game loss surrendering three runs, two earned, on six hits. Jordan struck out three and walked two.
The Fleet leapt out to a 6-2 lead after three innings only to see Barton rally to tie the game by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. The Fleet immediately regained the lead in the fifth inning when sophomore Larissa Shannon (Newberry, SC, Newberry High School) ignited a two-out rally by launching her sixth home run of the season. Morgan Purcell (Duncan, SC, Byrnes High School) followed with a double and scored on LaPrad’s single. LaPrad came around to score the third run of the inning on the Fleet’s fourth consecutive two-out hit by Ashlyn Hicks (Caycee, SC, Brookland-Cayce High School). The Fleet added two more runs in the sixth inning. Spurrier picked up the win, her seventh, in relief by holding Barton to just two hits over the last 3.1 innings. Autumn Pittman took the loss for Barton.
Erskine concludes their four-game road trip tomorrow against Mt. Olive College.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
