BREVARD, N.C. – Honoring its 2021 senior class of Brittany Franks, Ali Grace Hartman, Micayla McCoy, and Emily White, the Brevard College softball team (6-8, 5-3 USAS) swept a USA South Conference doubleheader against LaGrange College (3-7, 2-6 USAS) on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the BC Softball Field.
After falling behind early, 3-0 in game one, BC stormed back with 10 unanswered runs to take the first contest by a final of 10-3 as BC's offense accumulated 12 hits behind a complete-game performance from McCoy. Brevard opened up an early 5-0 lead and held off LaGrange by scoring five runs in innings 4-6 to claim the doubleheader sweep with a 10-5 triumph. Hartman earned the complete-game victory in the circle for the Tornados, hurling seven innings surrendering just one earned run with five strikeouts.
GAME ONE – BREVARD 10, LAGRANGE 3
McCoy (3-3) got the ball in the first contest of the Senior Day doubleheader, throwing the 20th complete game of her Tornado career and her 13th victory at BC. The Cullowhee, North Carolina native went all seven innings allowing just five hits and three runs while striking out four batters. The right-hander also contributed offensively, going 2-for-3 with a triple, a run scored, and an RBI.
Senior outfielder Brittany Franks posted a 2-for-4 outing with two runs and two RBI's, while Taylor Hannah also collected a multi-hit performance. Jocelyn Folkers and Hartman logged triples while Autumn Lollis and White notched doubles as all nine of BC's starters collected base hits in the 10-3 victory.
LaGrange struck first in the top of the third with a two-RBI double and a sacrifice fly that gave the Panthers the early advantage, 3-0. The Tornados were able to answer right back, exploding for seven runs in the bottom half of the third frame.
Folkers opened up the third-inning scoring barrage with a stand-up RBI-triple over the right fielder's head that scored Lollis. Hartman followed suit with a two-RBI triple of her own that plated Folkers and White, tying the contest 3-3. Franks added an RBI-single that was followed by an RBI-single and a fielding error that scored Franks and McCoy. Lollis capped off the scoring outburst with a double down the left-field line that scored Serena Rodgers-Luckey, giving the Tornados a four-run cushion, 7-3.
BC used three hits and a pair of LaGrange errors in the bottom of the fourth to extend its lead to a 10-3 margin, as McCoy and the Tornado defense shut down the visitors over the course of the final three innings to secure the victory.
GAME TWO – BREVARD 10, LAGRANGE 5
Hartman (1-3) got the start in the circle for the Tornados in the second game of the afternoon, earning her first win of the 2021 season in her second complete game of the year. The right-handed senior from Lawndale, North Carolina threw seven innings of six-hit ball, allowing just one earned run while scattering five strikeouts in the contest.
Hannah led all Tornado batters with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, highlighting her afternoon with a bases-clearing, three-RBI triple. Hartman and White each tallied two-hit performances, as Hartman logged a pair of doubles and two RBI's while White racked up a double and an RBI. Sophomore infielder Katelynn Olive racked up a pair of doubles and three RBI's off the bench for the Tornados to help Brevard pull away.
After sitting down the Panthers 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning, Hartman kickstarted BC's offense with a double that scored White to give the Tornados the early advantage, 1-0.
Brevard loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second inning before a Beth Hyatt infield single doubled BC's advantage. Hannah stepped up to bat and cleared the bases, shooting a line drive through the gap in left-center field, giving the Tornados a 5-0 lead.
A LaGrange RBI-single, two passed balls, and an RBI groundout gave the Panthers new life, as the visitors cut the deficit to a one-run, 5-4 margin after the top of the third inning. BC's senior duo of Hartman and White answered right back in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back RBI-doubles that extended the Tornado lead to 7-4.
Olive was subbed into the contest in the top of the fifth inning and made an immediate offensive impact in the bottom of the stanza, doubling home Rodgers-Luckey to push BC's lead to a four-run cushion. Olive stepped up in the bottom of the sixth and smacked a two-RBI double to left-center field to break open the contest, giving the Tornados a 10-4 advantage.
The Panthers used a late two-out rally in the top of the seventh to keep themselves in striking distance, as a double followed by a fielding error cut the BC lead to five runs. However, Hartman forced a fly out to center field that secured the senior day doubleheader sweep for Brevard, 10-5.
The Tornados are scheduled to travel to Decatur, Georgia on Wednesday, April 21 to face Agnes Scott College at 4 and 6 p.m.
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-BC-