BREVARD, N.C. - Hosting its first home contest in over a month at the BC Softball Field, the Brevard College softball team (4-8, 3-3 USAS) earned a USA South Conference doubleheader split against Covenant College (16-14, 5-3 USAS) on a sunny Wednesday afternoon on the campus of Brevard College.
Game one featured an offensive surge by the Tornados, as Brevard tallied a season-high nine runs on 15 hits, including senior Emily White's fourth-inning grand slam to straightaway center field that broke the contest open. The offensive explosion backed up an impressive outing in the circle from fellow senior Micayla McCoy, who logged a complete game, surrendered just five hits and an earned run with four strikeouts.
The Scots were able to tame BC's offense in game number two, taking a tight 2-1 decision in the back end of the doubleheader. After Brevard jumped out to the early lead, 1-0, Covenant took advantage of an error to plate a pair of unearned runs that proved the decider.
GAME ONE - BREVARD 9, COVENANT 3
White, a senior infielder from Shelby, North Carolina, led all Tornado hitters with a five-RBI output in game number one that included her first-career grand slam. With one out in the bottom of the fourth and the bases loaded, White smacked a Covenant pitch to dead center field and over the wall to kickstart a five-run inning that helped break the contest open in favor of the Tornados. The homer marked White's third of the season and sixth of her Tornado career.
Three Tornados enjoyed three-hit performances in the front end of the doubleheader. Ali Grace Hartman went 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI's, a double, and a triple while McCoy turned in a 3-for-4 outing with two RBI's, a double, and a triple. Jocelyn Folkers went 3-for-4 at the plate while scoring a team-best three runs, while Taylor Hannah tallied two hits - including a stand-up triple - while also scoring a pair of runs.
McCoy hurled the fourth complete game of her senior season and 19th overall at Brevard, striking out four Scots while allowing just five hits and one earned run over her seven innings of work.
BC's offensive outburst began in the first inning when White singled home Hannah on a single up the middle. Hartman followed that up with a single to left that scored Folkers, giving BC an early 2-0 lead.
Covenant was able to scratch across a run in the top of the third with a two-out RBI-single that cut the deficit to a 2-1 margin.
Following a Scot fielding error in the bottom of the third inning, Hartman tripled home Folkers to extend the Tornado advantage to a 3-1 margin. McCoy then hit an RBI-single with two outs that extended BC's lead to a three-run margin, 4-1.
Two singles and a Covenant fielding error left the bases juiced with one out for White in the bottom of the fourth, as the senior's towering grand slam pushed BC's lead to a seven-run cushion, 8-1. A Hartman double and McCoy triple put the Tornados up by eight runs, 9-1, heading to the top of the fifth inning.
A Covenant run scored on a throwing error prevented the run-rule victory, as Brevard maintained a 9-2 advantage after six innings of play. The Scots were able to scratch across a lone run in the top of the seventh, but McCoy and the Tornado defense shut the door to claim the six-run conference triumph, 9-3.
GAME TWO - COVENANT 2, BREVARD 1
Hartman got the start for the Tornados in the circle, pitching a complete game in the narrow defeat. The senior gave up just four hits and a pair of unearned runs in seven innings of work. Hannah, Hartman, Autumn Lollis, and McCoy all tallied hits in the four-hit effort by BC in game two, with Lollis collecting a double.
Covenant's Lauren Kierpa pitched her second complete game of the afternoon, giving up four hits and an unearned run with one strikeout.
Serena Rodgers-Luckey drove home the game's first run, putting the ball in play allowing McCoy to score. Rodgers-Luckey advanced to second base on a throwing error on the same play, but was stranded to prevent any further threat.
After a leadoff double in the top of the fourth inning, Covenant put runners on second and third with nobody out following a Tornado error. A sacrifice-fly and RBI-double gave the visitors their first lead of the day, 2-1.
BC managed two singles in the fifth and sixth innings before a late rally in the bottom of the seventh. After two quick outs, a throwing error and passed ball left Beth Hyatt 60 feet away from tying the game up. Kierpa forced a game-clinching strikeout to give Covenant the doubleheader split with Brevard.
The Tornados return to action this weekend when Brevard travels to Decatur, Georgia to face Agnes Scott College in a USA South doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
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-BC-