May 20, 2011

GULF SHORES, Ala. – (Box Score) Bethel (Ind.) (38-7) scored multiple runs in five innings on its way to downing Asbury (Ky.) (20-12) 11-4 in pool play action at the 2011 NAIA Softball National Championship.

The Pilots racked up 12 hits and scored multiple runs in every inning but the fourth to improve to 2-0 in pool play and drop Asbury to 0-2.

Katie Boocher (17-4) got the win by allowing no earned runs on four hits in five innings of work while fanning nine batters.

Eight different Pilot hitters recorded at least one hit. Holly Weaver went 3-for-4 at the top of the order, Boocher finished 2-for-4 at the dish, Emily Lamkin went 2-for-4, and both Brookelyn Smith and Alyssa Zimmerman drove in a pair of runs.

For Asbury, Miranda Drury drove in three runs and Kendall Ratchford finished 2-for-2.

Zimmerman singled home two runs in the first to start the scoring and Smith produced a two-run triple in the second inning to give Bethel a 4-0 lead.

Asbury capitalized on a pair of Bethel errors in the fifth inning to plate four runs and cut the deficit to 6-4 as Drury delivered a three-run double. But, the Pilots kept hitting and ran away with the game thanks to two runs of their own in the fifth and a three-spot in the sixth as Boocher ripped a RBI-double to help her own cause.

The Pilots have now outscored their opponents by a combined 21-4 score after blanking Morningside (Iowa) 10-0 Thursday. Bethel faces Cal State San Marcos Saturday at 4:30 p.m. CDT, while Asbury will finish pool play action against Morningside at 11:30 a.m.

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