BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College softball team (6-24, 2-16) concluded its 2023 season with a home conference doubleheader vs. Methodist (18-19, 9-9 USA South) on Sunday afternoon at the BC Softball Field.

 

Brevard dropped the first game of the doubleheader 9-3, before a tight second game of the twin bill went down to the final inning with Methodist winning 7-4.

 

 

Methodist jumped out to a five-run lead with two runs in the first followed by three runs in the second inning.  The Monarchs went on to add two more runs in the top of the third to take a 7-0 lead.

 

In the bottom of the third, freshman right fielder Jasmine Webb led off with a single before being moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by senior Beth Hyatt.  With two outs in the inning, left fielder Karley Queen then hit an RBI single to drive home Webb.  

 

The two teams went scoreless in both the fourth and fifth before another run came home for Methodist in the top of the sixth.  The Monarchs then went on to add one more run in the top of the seventh to stretch the lead to 9-2.

 

In the bottom of the seventh, the Tornado bats came to life with three consecutive triples.  With one out, Gabby Hooper doubled to left field.  Webb then smashed a double to deep left field to score Hooper.  Hyatt then followed with an RBI double of her own to score Webb.  After a pitching change, Methodist was able to end the Brevard threat with a double play to take the 9-3 win.

 

Methodist's Emma Neely was the winning pitcher after going 6.1 innings allowing three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk.  Abby Delp started the game for Brevard before Lindsey Tolle entered in relief to pitch the final 5.1 innings which included two scoreless frames.

 

 

After two scoreless innings, Brevard struck first in the bottom of the third as senior shortstop Mikayla Morgan led off the frame with a triple to left-center.  Senior catcher Serena Rodgers-Luckey then hit an RBI-grounder to bring Morgan home to give BC its first lead of the day.

 

Methodist responded with four runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-1 advantage which the visitors held until the bottom of the sixth.  The Tornados offense came alive at that point beginning with a leadoff single by third baseman Olivia Martinez.  With one out, Hooper then singled to move Martinez to second.  Webb then drove in her second run of the doubleheader with an RBI single scoring Martinez.   Hyatt executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to set up runners at second and third for Morgan.  The senior delivered again with a two-run single that scored Webb and Hooper to tie the game up at 4-4 in dramatic fashion.

 

Methodist once again answered however with three runs in the seventh to regain the lead 7-4.  BC was able to manage to put runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to bring home any more runs.

 

Methodist starter Alyssa Barwick (7-7) earned the victory with a complete seven innings pitched allowing four runs on six hits.  Grace Reynolds, who was relieved for three at-bats in the seventh by Tolle, pitched seven innings for BC allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits with two strikeouts.

 

Morgan finished the game 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.  Webb was 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk.

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-BC-