Softball | 3/22/2014 11:02:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist softball team split its doubleheader against Maryville on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Field. The Monarchs claimed game one, 6-2, and lost game two, 10-8, to the visiting Scots.
 
In the opener, Methodist trailed by a 1-0 margin through two innings as Maryville tallied a run in the opening half inning.
 
Taylor Dockery drew a leadoff walk, and moved up to second base on a Brittany Miller wild pitch. A Jessica McMahan groundout advanced Dockery to third, and Tiffany Brand's one-out sacrifice fly to left brought Dockery across home plate for the game's first run and a 1-0 Scots lead.
 
The Monarchs, however, tacked on three runs in their turn to bat in the third to assume a 3-1 edge after four innings.
 
Tanya Van Dyk got things rolling with a leadoff single to center, and went to second on Kelsey Harrington's bunt single to third. Now with runners on first and two and none out, Lindsay Tippett laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a base.
 
The next batter, Allyson Aycock, drove home the tying and tiebreaking runs as she singled to center field to score Van Dyk and Harrington, respectively. Dockery's throw from centerfield to home eluded Maryville catcher Jennie Burks, and allowed Harrington to cross the plate and Aycock to move to second.
 
Following an Ally Griffin single that put runners on the corners with one down, Natalie High flew out to left, but Gabby Howard came up to hit next and plated Aycock with a two-out RBI single up the middle for a 3-1 Methodist lead.
 
The Monarchs added another run in the fifth courtesy of a Heather Williams sacrifice fly to left that scored Hannah Fickle to make it 4-1 in favor of Methodist.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Scots threatened to narrow their 4-1 deficit.
 
With Miller still pitching for the Monarchs, she retired McMahan on a lineout right back to the pitching circle for the first out, but soon found herself in a crunch. Brand lined a one-out single to left, and Hannah Youngdeer moved her up with a base hit of her own up the middle to end Miller's outing.
 
Facing a one-out, two-on situation with Methodist leading by a 4-1 margin, reliever Christine Bowman promptly induced an inning-ending double play lineout off the bat of Megan Mihaliak on her very first pitch. Mihaliak's line smash was snagged by Monarchs third baseman Natalie High, who then fired to first to double off pinch runner Cydnee Morrisette to avert the threat.
 
Methodist gave itself some breathing as it added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning for a 6-1 advantage.
 
Harrington drew a leadoff walk, and crossed the plate on Tippett run-scoring double to right center. Following Maryville reliever Lexie Randolph's wild pitch that moved pinch runner Savannah Upshaw to third, Aycock drove in Upshaw on an RBI groundout to shortstop to make it 6-1.
 
The Scots went down battling in their final time to hit. Kayla Aloisi began the top of the seventh with a single to left, and advanced to second as High could not handle Randolph's groundball to third. Bowman managed to strike out pinch hitter Emilie Craven swinging to make it one out with runners on first and second.
 
A Kalyn Jones single to shallow center moved Aloisi to third, but resulted in a forceout at second as Randolph did not make it down to the base from first in enough time.
 
Aloisi scored on a wild pitch by Bowman that cut into Methodist's lead, 6-2. Dockery then singled up the middle to put runners on first and third with two down. The Monarchs would choose to swap out pitchers as Nicole Heinrich entered the circle in relief of Bowman. Heinrich stranded both runners as she fanned pinch hitter Summer Northcutt swinging to nail down the victory.
 
Methodist finished game one with 13 hits, including a 3-for-4 performance by Griffin. Aycock batted 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, and Howard and Marcy McKee each went 2-for-3. Harrington batted 1-for-3 and scored twice.
 
Miller (4-7) earned a win for the second time in as many days for the Monarchs as she pitched 5.1 innings. She gave up one run on four hits and two walks and struck out one.
 
Maryville ended the opener with seven base hits, but none for extra bases. Youngdeer went 2-for-3, and Brand drove in a run. Aloisi (3-11) was pegged with the loss after going 5.0-plus innings. She surrendered six runs (4 ER) on 11 hits and three walks. She struck out one.
 
In the nightcap, Methodist (8-17, 5-9 USA South) jumped out to a 7-0 advantage as it scored three runs in the first and another four in the third.
 
During the bottom of the first, Van Dyk started the inning off with a single to third. Harrington moved Van Dyk up to second with a sacrifice bunt, and reached safely on a fielding error by Scots third baseman Jones. Tippett then singled to center to load the bases with no outs, but Aycock grounded out to first, and everyone held at their respective bases.
 
Van Dyk dashed home on a run-scoring wild pitch for game two's first run, and Griffin then drove in Harrington on a fielder's choice. Tippett came home when High struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt, which forced Maryville catcher Burks to toss a one-hopper down to first for the second out. Through two complete, the Monarchs led by a 3-0 margin.
 
Methodist got things rolling once again in the bottom of the third. Harrington doubled to right center to kick off the frame, and advanced to third on Tippett's groundout to first. Harrington then raced across the plate on another run-scoring wild pitch to make it 4-0. With none on and one out, the Scots made several defensive changes.
 
Griffin proceeded to single down the left field line, and went to second as Marvyille shortstop Brand could not handle High's groundball to her. Krista Zentner then lined a one-out, two-RBI double to left center to score Girffin and pinch runner Kirsten Markow for the 6-0 lead. McKee plated Zentner with a run-scoring double of her own, which made it 7-0 in favor of the Monarchs through three innings.
 
The Scots (6-24, 4-12 USA South) significantly put a dent into their seven-run deficit as they tallied five runs in the fourth.
 
Following Brand's leadoff walk, Elizabeth Gibson replaced Methodist game two starter Sarah Stapleton, and retired her first hitter, Youngdeer, on a groundout that moved Brand to second. Mihaliak then lofted a popout near the right field foul line, and the ball dropped in fair as Monarchs first baseman
Tippett could not corral it.
 
After Mihaliak stole second, Aloisi walked to load the bases, and pinch hitter Cydnee Morrisette drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Maryville's first run of game two. Methodist removed Gibson from the game, and put left-hander Emily Hester in the pitcher's circle.
 
Jones immediately greeted Hester with an RBI single to left to score Mihaliak. After a Kelly Barnhard popout to short, there were two outs with the bases still full. Pinch hitter Summer Northcutt would reach on a run-scoring fielder's choice that made it a 5-3 game. Dockery drove in the Scots final two runs of the frame with a single through the right side that brought home Morrisette and Jones, respectively.
 
Maryville continued its rally as it scored two more runs in the top of the fifth to knot the game up, 7-7.
 
Youngdeer led off with a single to left, and Mihaliak reached base on a bobble by Monarchs pitcher Stapleton. Aloisi drove in a pair via as she hit a two-run double to plate Youngdeer and Mihaliak to tie the contest.
 
Following a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, the Scots tallied their final three runs of the afternoon to complete its comeback from a 7-0 hole.
 
Dockery reached base on a one-out hit-by-pitch and then stole second. Following a low pitch to Brand, Dockery advanced to third as Monarchs catcher Griffin's return throw to Stapleton bounced away from the pitcher. Brand ended up reaching base via a walk, and alertly advanced to second for a stolen base.
 
Heinrich entered in relief of Stapleton, and walked her first batter, Youngdeer, to load the bases. After Mihaliak flied out to right for the second out, Aloisi helped her own cause with the tiebreaking three-RBI double to right center that brought in Dockery, Brand and Youngdeer for a 10-7 Maryville lead.
 
With Aloisi still pitching for the Scots in the bottom of the seventh, Methodist attempted to mount a rally of its own. Tippett hit a single to right center, and Upshaw entered as a pinch runner. Aycock then lined a double down the left field line to drive in Upshaw to close the gap to 10-8. Griffin would ground out to third, but Upshaw did manage to slide in safely to third on the play.
 
Now with two down and one down, High grounded out to shortstop, and Zentner struck out swinging to end the day's action.
 
The Monarchs had 10 hits in game two, including a three-hit game by Tippett. Harrington scored twice, and Zentner drove in a pair of runs. Stapleton (1-4) took the loss as she tossed 4.2 innings. She allowed five runs (3 ER) on two hits and three walks and struck out four.
 
Maryville ended the nightcap with five base hits to its credit, but also walked six times. Aliosi went 2-for-3 with a walk and five RBI. Brand, Mihaliak and Youngdeer each scored twice. Aliosi (3-13) earned the victory with a 7.0-inning complete game effort. She gave up eight runs (4 ER) on 10 hits and no walks. She struck out four.
 
Up next for Methodist will be a doubleheader against Randolph-Macon on Tuesday afternoon at Monarch Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.