BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College softball team (6-25, 0-12 USA South) put together a pair of late rallies in a USA South Conference home doubleheader vs. Salem College (5-25, 2-10 USAS) on Tuesday afternoon, but the Spirits edged the Tornados 7-6 and 9-8 to sweep the series at the BC Softball Field.
Salem opened up a 7-3 lead through four innings in game one, but Brevard used a three-run fifth to climb back to within a run, 7-6. The Tornados were unable to bring the tying run across over the course of the final two innings and dropped the first game.
Despite falling behind 5-0 in game two, BC drew to within one run on two seperate occasions in the second contest of the day, trailing 5-4 after the third inning and 9-8 after the fifth. Each side went scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings as the Spirits escaped with the one-run win to clinch the doubleheader sweep.
GAME ONE: SALEM 7, BREVARD 6
Salem used a first-inning RBI groundout to take the early edge, and followed it up with a three-run top of the second via an RBI infield single, another RBI single, and an RBI double. However, with the bases loaded in the bottom-half of the frame, Karley Queen roped a single to center field, and the ball bounced by the Salem defender and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing the bases to be cleared via the two-RBI single and fielding error as the Tornados closed the gap to just one run, 4-3.
The Spirits used consecutive singles to get a pair of runners aboard in the top of the third, and a two-RBI double pushed the Salem lead back up to a 6-3 margin. The Spirits tacked on a run in the top of the fourth thanks to back-to-back leadoff doubles, pushing its lead to a four-run margin.
Salem threatened to tally more runs in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with just one out, however the Tornados turned a 5-2-3 double play to end the threat.
Olivia Martinez kicked off BC's fifth-inning by reaching on a fielding error, and Ive Leighton followed suit with a one-out hit-by-pitch. MacKenzie Wilborne rifled a single up the middle, and Peyton Wise delivered a clutch triple down the right-field line that cleared the bases and brought the Tornados back within one run, 7-6. However, BC was unable to tie things up following consecutive strikeouts that ended the fifth inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Martinez got on base via a HBP, and a throwing error allowed runners to get on the corners for BC. Salem was able to get out of the jam by forcing a ground out, as the Spirits held on to their one-run lead.
BC managed a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh as the Tornados searched for the game-tying run, but a pair of popups ended game one, snapping a 22-game slide for the Spirits in a 7-6 win.
Wise went 2-for-4 at the plate with her three-RBI triple, while Wilborne also went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Jadyn Harlow recorded a double off the left-field fence, while Leighton, Rylee Locklear, and Queen notched singles. Logan Masinsky (1-8) and Grace Reynolds each worked in the circle for Brevard in game one of the twin bill.
GAME TWO: SALEM 9, BREVARD 8
The two sides took part in a wild second game, as each team combined for 17 runs on 27 hits with six errors between the two sides.
Three different Tornados recorded three hits each, with Locklear scoring a pair of runs and recording a RBI. Wilborne went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored, and Wise added a 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Leighton went 2-for-4 with a team-high 3 RBI, and Gabby Hooper added a 2-for-3 performance with a triple and two runs scored and a stolen base.
Salem recorded four extra base hits in game two, including three doubles and a home run, while also registering three stolen bases as the Sprits scored nine runs in game two.
The Spirits used four hits and a total of three Tornado first-inning errors to plate four runs in the top of the first. BC threatened to answer back in the bottom of the first, but left the bases loaded. Salem added a run in the top of the second to extend their early lead to a 5-0 margin.
BC put together a three-run bottom of the second inning to get back into the game, as a Leighton sacrifice fly coupled with a Wilborne RBI single and a bases-loaded HBP drawn by KateLynn Olive that drew the Tornados within two, 5-3.
Locklear roped a two-out single up the in the bottom of the third that brought Hooper around to score, putting the Tornados within one run at 5-4 through three innings played. Salem answered with a two-out, three-run home in the top of the fourth, pushing its lead back up to four runs, 8-4.
Wilborne led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, and after a Summer Crist two-out single and a Hooper HBP, Leighton lofted a single into center field that scored two runs and cut the deficit in half, 8-6.
Salem scored its ninth run of the game with a two-out RBI double down the left-field line, giving the Spirits a three-run cushion, 9-6. Brevard found two runs in the bottom-half of the frame with a Wilborne RBI ground out and an RBI single by Cassie Plemmons - the first hit and RBI of her collegiate career - as the Tornados drew back within a run, 9-8.
Reynolds and the Tornado defense were able to hold Salem off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh innings, as Brevard attempted a late-game rally. The Tornados put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but a groundout ended the threat. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, BC used back-to-back walks and a hard-hit single by Hooper to load the bases up, putting the tying run on third and the game-winning run at second, but a fly out ended game two in favor of the Spirits 9-8.
The Tornados are back at home Saturday for Senior Day at 12 and 2 p.m. vs. North Carolina Wesleyan.
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