Misenheimer, NC – On a day filled with sad hearts, Erskine split a doubleheader with Pfeiffer University Tuesday afternoon at Jack Ingram Field.  Erskine’s Kelsey Spurrier (Charlotte, NC, Butler High School) pitched her best game of the season thus far outdueling Pfeiffer’s ace Melanie Conklin 5-1 that required an extra frame to decide.  Pfeiffer bounced back to take the nightcap scoring six runs in the fifth to win 7-4.  Prior to the game, Pfeiffer honored Assistant Softball Coach and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Roy Harrington, who passed away suddenly on Monday.

Game One – Box Score

The first game featured a classic pitcher’s duel.  Conklin’s only mistake through the first seven frame was a pitch to Erskine’s Larissa Shannon (Newberry, SC, Newberry High School), who hit her seventh home run of the season, to put the Fleet up 1-0.  Pfeiffer immediately tied the game in their half of the inning as Conklin helped herself with a RBI double.  In the first extra frame, Erskine used two Pfeiffer fielding miscues to score four runs, all with two outs. 

For the Fleet, Shannon was 2 for 3 with the home run and was intentionally walked for the second straight game in her final plate appearance.   In the circle, Spurrier won her fourth game of the season by going eight strong innings while allowing one run on five hits.  She struck out seven and yielded just one walk.

Game Two – Box Score

With the score tied 1-1, Pfeiffer erupted to score six runs in the fifth inning.  Andrea Wagner and Celia Dew provided the knockout blow with back-to-back doubles to score four of the six runs.  Erskine got a run back in the sixth on an RBI single by Colleen Gardner (Matthews, NC, Butler High School) and Shannon drilled her eighth home run of the season, a two-run blast, to make the final score 7-4.

Shannon led the Fleet offensively going 3 for 4 with a double, home run and two runs batted in while junior Morgan Purcell (Duncan, SC, Byrnes High School)  went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI.

With the split, Erskine is now 11-15 overall and 9-5 in conference.  Pfeiffer now stands at 13-18 overall and 4-4 in conference.

Erskine’s next doubleheader is next Wednesday against the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  The first game starts at 3:00 p.m. with the second game starting approximately 20 minutes afterwards.