NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Brevard College softball team (7-5) extended its spring break winning streak to five games, claiming victories over Penn State Harrisburg and Albertus Magnus on Tuesday afternoon at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic.
The Tornados used a big five-run sixth inning to thump the Nittany Lions, 10-3, while freshman Alyssa Flynn won her third-consecutive start in a 6-0 shutout victory over the Falcons.
GAME ONE - BREVARD 10, PENN STATE HARRISBURG 3
Freshman pitching sensation Jordan Kielson (4-1) earned the start and the victory for the Tornados, pitching four innings without allowing an earned run in her outing. Fellow freshman right-handed hurler Lea Kindrick threw three quality innings of shutout ball for her second save of the 2020 season.
Junior slugger Emily White led four Tornados who logged multi-hit outings against the Nittany Lions, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, one RBI, and a season-high three doubles. Ali Grace Hartman, Mikayla Morgan all tallied two hits apiece, while Hartman and Micayla McCoy each posted an extra-base hit.
White began her big day at the plate with a two-out double but was thrown out at the plate on a Morgan single that kept BC off the board. Kielson forced three groundouts in the bottom of the first frame, leaving the score at 0-0.
After back-to-back one-out singles from Hartman and Bearden, Dowell laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved the runners over to second and third base with two outs in the inning. A squeeze bunt by Franks forced a fielder's choice attempt, however, Hartman beat out the throw at the plate, giving the Tornados an early 1-0 lead. Surrendering just a one-out single, Kielson kept the score in favor of BC with a strikeout and groundout.
White led off the top of the third frame with her second double of the contest that was followed by a McCoy double to left field that scored White and extended BC's advantage to a 2-0 margin. Kielson erased a two-out double from PSH with a groundout, helping the Tornados maintain their advantage.
Brevard scored a trio of runs in the top of the fourth off three hits and two Nittany Lion errors to swell its lead to a 5-0 margin. Franks drove in her second run of the game on an RBI single that was followed up by a White RBI double - her third double of the game - that scored Beth Hyatt, extending the BC advantage to four runs. White was brought home after an error, giving the Tornados a five-run cushion.
With the bases loaded and two outs, a costly BC fielding error allowed three unearned runs to come around and score for the Nittany Lions, cutting the Brevard lead to a 5-3 margin. Kielson, however, limited the damage to just that, exiting the two-run ballgame with the lead.
Kindrick entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and erased a leadoff single with three-consecutive outs, leaving the game at 5-3 in favor of the Tornados.
Brevard's offense came through in big fashion in the top of the sixth frame, posting a crooked number with five runs scored on four hits and an error to push the advantage up to a 10-3 margin. Kindrick backed up her offense's performance with a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Both sides went down in order in the seventh frame, as the Tornados won their sixth game of the season in convincing fashion, 10-3, over the Nittany Lions.
GAME TWO - BREVARD 6, ALBERTUS MAGNUS 0
For the third straight day of competition, Flynn (3-0) received a starting nod in the circle for the Tornados. The freshman from Gaffney, South Carolina pitched five innings of two-hit, scoreless ball. Flynn didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning. Kaitlynn Farmer came in for Flynn in relief, logging two innings allowing just one hit while striking out three batters.
White was once again a doubling machine, striking for a pair of doubles in a 2-for-3 performance that saw the junior drive in two RBI's and score a run. Folkers hit a double and recorded a pair of RBI's while scoring a run as well. Hyatt and Kat Carroll each tallied an RBI, while Morgan scored two runs in the contest.
BC's offense got going early as Hyatt drove in the game's first run on a sacrifice bunt that scored Morgan. Folkers followed that up with an RBI double, extending the Tornado lead to a 2-0 margin before Carroll's RBI single made the lead 3-0 in favor of Brevard.
Following back-to-back perfect frames from Flynn, White hit a double to left field in the top of the third that scored a pair of runs, pushing BC up, 5-0. Flynn once again sat the Falcons down in order, 1-2-3.
Folkers logged her second RBI of the contest on a bases-loaded walk, as the Tornados maintained a 6-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning through the remainder of the contest.
After allowing her first hit of the contest to lead off the home half of the fourth inning that was followed by another single, Flynn buckled down and forced three-consecutive outs. In her last inning of work, the right-hander sat Albertus Magnus down in order, concluding her day in the circle for Brevard.
Farmer came into the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning, working around an error and a walk to strike out a pair of batters and keep the shutout intact. Despite a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, Farmer finished out the shutout in electric fashion, forcing a swinging strikeout to clinch BC's fifth win in a row.
The Tornados will enjoy a well-deserved off-day tomorrow before closing out its time at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic on Thursday with games against Penn College (11:30 a.m.) and Wells College (3:30 p.m.), with both games being played at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex on Field #2.
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-BC-