No. 9 Shorter, No. 11 Lee Play to Split
By Matt Green, Shorter Sports Information
CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Two more head-to-head matchups between the top two softball teams in the Southern States Athletic Conference and still nothing decided between Shorter (Ga.) and Lee (Tenn.).
The ninth-ranked Lady Hawks and 11th-ranked Lady Flames played to a split in their key Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday night in Cleveland, Tenn. Lee captured the opener 6-4 and Shorter rebounded by taking the finale 6-1.
The split means that both Shorter (39-8, 19-4 SSAC) and Lee (42-8, 19-4) remain tied atop the SSAC East Division standings with four conference games remaining. The Lady Hawks take on No. 14 Brenau tomorrow night in Gainesville before closing out the regular season against Truett-McConnell in Cleveland, Ga., on Saturday.
In a game they desperately needed to keep pace, Shorter dominated Game 2 with the Lady Flames to salvage the split.
Maddie Bray scattered seven hits over seven innings and allowed just one run while fanning three to post her team-high 12th win of the season. The freshman has now posted a win in nine of her last 11 starts with one of those appearances resulting in a no decision.
Bre Johnson provided Shorter's offensive spark with a two-run homer -- her eighth -- in the second inning that put the Lady Hawks up 2-0. Bray added an RBI single then scored on a Lee error in the fourth to make it 4-0 and Shorter tacked on two more runs in the fifth thanks to two more Lee errors to take a 6-0 lead.
Charlie Wooden singled home Kelsey Barnes in the sixth for Lee, but it was much too little too late for the hosts, who were never able to seriously threaten Bray in the circle.
Johnson (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Amanda Dailey (2-for-4) combined for four of Shorter's seven Game 2 hits. Johnson also doubled for the game's only extra base hit and each of Shorter's first three batters tallied at least one hit in the win.
In Game 1, Lee jumped out to a big lead, withstood Shorter's rally, then closed out the Lady Hawks with a late surge for a 6-4 win.
Shorter took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Emily Clements' sacrifice fly, but after Ana Coscorrosa tied the game with her RBI double in Lee's half of the first, Wooden followed with a big 3-run homer that put the Lady Flames in front 4-1 after one.
Bray hit a 2-run home run in the top of the fourth to ignite a three-run frame for Shorter and knot the game at 4, but Savanna Bell came home on a fielder's choice in the bottom half of the inning to put Lee back in front at 5-4 and Coscorrosa added an RBI single in the sixth to give the Lady Flames a two-run lead.
Shorter managed three hits over the final three innings, but couldn't advance a runner past first as Lee pitcher Brittany Balough outdueled Shorter's Kristen Little to post a complete-game win.
Jackie Castaneda and Sarah Corn went 2-for-3 for Shorter in the opener. Little was chased after giving up five earned runs on six hits in 3.1 innings. Balough allowed three earned runs on eight hits, but stranded nine Lady Hawks on base in a 116-pitch outing.
Shorter's doubleheader with Brenau tomorrow night is set to begin at 5 pm.