FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Methodist University softball hosted North Carolina Wesleyan University for a USA South Athletic Conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon. The Monarchs ended up dropping both games, 5-3 in the first one before a 7-0 shutout in the second one, to the Battling Bishops at Price Field.
THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: N.C. Wesleyan def. Methodist, 5-3; N.C. Wesleyan def. Methodist, 7-0
Records: Methodist 12-16 (3-7 USA South); N.C. Wesleyan 21-10 (6-4)
Location: Price Field; Fayetteville, North Carolina
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1:
- An RBI double by Moe Byerly gave N.C. Wesleyan the early 1-0 advantage in the top half of second inning.
- Methodist responded back with three-runs in the bottom half. A sacrifice fly by Haley Downes tied the ballgame up before a Battling Bishops miscue allowed the Monarchs to take the 2-1 lead. Alexandra Edwards drove in the third Methodist run with her base hit to right field.
- N.C. Wesleyan found itself only trialing by one run, 3-2, after a Mary Katherine Raynor RBI in the third. The fourth innings saw the Battling Bishops go up 4-3 to retake the lead, with RBI knocks from Byerly and Savannah Thompson.
- The final N.C. Wesleyan run was scored off a passed ball in the sixth.
- The Monarchs had a good chance with tally a couple of runs back in the fifth, as they had runners on second and third but were unable to score them.
Game 2:
- Both sides were held scoreless for the first three innings. In the fourth, the Battling Bishops broke the 0-0 tie on a Makayla Simmons RBI triple. Simmons would come in to score, 2-0, on a Thompson hit on the very next play.
- Molly Alejandrino tacked on another run for N.C. Wesleyan with her RBI double in the fifth. Alexis Whitfield joined the RBI party on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0, in the sixth inning.
- Three more runs came around to score for the Battling Bishops in the seventh.
NUMBERS
- Morgan Aycock, N.C. Wesleyan's starter in game two, kept the Methodist offense quiet. In a complete-game shutout, she struck out three batter and surrendered two walks while scattering four hits through seven innings.
- The Battling Bishops out hit the Monarchs, 21 to 12, in the two games combined. Edwards was the only Methodist player to record a hit in both.
- Both teams left a total of 13 runners stranded on the base path.
UP NEXT
Methodist is on the road this Saturday, April 15, from a USA South doubleheader with Pfeiffer University (ranked 20th in the nation). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.