BREVARD, N.C.  In its final doubleheader of the regular season, the Methodist women's softball team secured a pair of victories over Brevard College on Sunday. The Monarchs controlled game one for a 9-3 win, then broke a tie in the seventh inning of game two to defeat the Tornados 7-4.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: Methodist def. Brevard, 9-3; Methodist def. Brevard, 7-4
Records: Methodist 18-18 (9-9 USA South); Brevard 6-24 (2-16)
Location: Brevard, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• With one runner on base in the top of the first, Haley Fethke granted the Monarchs a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer to center field. In the second inning, Maria Kollar laid down a bunt to advance Emily Angel to third before she scored on an error. Several batters later, Sydney Sizemore tripled to score two more, putting Methodist up 5-0.
• Extending Methodist's lead even further in the third inning, Angel drilled a ball over left field for a two-run homerun – her third longball of the weekend. Up 7-0, the Monarchs conceded one run in the bottom of the third before scoring two more of their own – one in the sixth and one in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Brevard scored twice before the Monarchs turned a double play to get the final two outs of the contest.
• Game two saw three and a half scoreless innings before the Tornados put a run on the board in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth, Methodist responded with a Grace Hobbs double that scored two runs. Hobbs advanced to third on the play thanks to an error by the Tornados, then scored when the next batter (Rachel Blanchard) reached on another Brevard error. Hannah Lovick stepped up to the plate next and singled to center field to bring Blanchard home and put the Monarchs on top, 4-1.
• Alyssa Barwick held the Tornados hitless in the fourth and fifth innings, but Brevard found its rhythm in the bottom of the sixth, recording four hits and scoring three runs to tie the game. The Monarchs didn't succumb to the pressure, with the first four batters of the seventh inning reaching base: Lovick with a single to left, Laney Ayres with a bunt single, Heather Tsapp with a walk, and Fethke with a single to left that scored Lovick. With one out, Virginia Crews delivered a single to right to score one run and keep the rally going. Right behind her was Hobbs, whose sacrifice fly to center field brought the third run of the inning home to put Methodist in front by three. In the bottom of the seventh, Brevard's first two batters reached before Barwick forced three straight batters to pop up, ending the ballgame.

NUMBERS

• 10 different Monarchs recorded a hit in the first game on Sunday, including Emily Angel, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. She finished the four-game weekend batting 6-for-10 with 3 homers and eight RBI.
• In game two, freshman Laney Ayres recorded the first multi-hit game of her career, batting 2-for-3 and drawing a walk to reach base a career-high three times. She previously had recorded just one hit (Feb. 19 versus Sweet Briar College).
• The Monarchs are now winners of their last six games – their longest win streak of the 2023 season.

UP NEXT
Methodist has earned the No. 7-seed in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament and will travel to No. 2-seed Greensboro College for the first round, which is double elimination. The Monarchs will face Greensboro on Tuesday, May 4 and will have the chance to face No. 3-seed North Carolina Wesleyan University or No. 6-seed Mary Baldwin University in their next game.