Chelsea McBay
Sports Writer

Last Tuesday, UNCG faced off against the #10 ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at the UNCG Softball Stadium. The score of that game was 6-2, with Louisiana snagging the victory. The following Saturday, the Spartans participated in a doubleheader at the #15 ranked University of South Carolina Gamecocks, dropping both games, with the scores being 6-3 and 9-4.

The Ragin’ Cajuns started out the game strong, posting two runs in the first inning off the bats of Sarah Hudek and Raina O’Neal. The score at the end of the first was 2-0.

In the third inning, Louisiana added to their lead with a RBI single from Kourney Gremillion, making the score 3-0.

Continuing into the fourth inning, another run was brought home on a single by Keeli Milligan, bringing the score to 4-0.

In the sixth inning, the Spartans got on the board. Marisa Sholtes homered to left-center field off of Louisiana relief pitcher Carrie Boswell. Louisiana got another run as well to make it 5-2.

In the seventh inning of the ballgame, the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to score one more run, bringing the game to a close for a score of 6-2. Spartans starting pitcher Stephanie Bryden went all seven innings, giving up six earned runs, walking one and striking out three. The Louisiana starting pitcher, Summer Ellyson, went five innings, giving up zero earned runs, one walk and striking out twelve Spartans.

The following Saturday, the Blue and Gold ventured into Beckham Field to play the USC Gamecocks.

UNCG started out strong, dropping two runs on the Gamecocks in the first inning. One run came from Makenna Matthijs, who drove in Delaney Cumbie. The second run came from a one-out walk of Katie Stettler. The score was 2-0 at the end of the first.

In the bottom of the fourth, things started getting out of hand, with USC dropping four runs on the Spartans. Karly Heath, Jana Johns, and Cayla Drotar each had one home run, bringing the score to 5-3.

One final Gamecock homer was launched in the bottom of the fifth inning off the bat of Alyssa Kumiyama to make the score 6-3. The Spartans were held scoreless the rest of the game, making the final score 6-3.

Gamecock starting pitcher, Dixie Raley, went seven innings, giving up two earned runs, walking six, and striking out eight. Bryden got her second straight loss, going five innings and giving up six earned runs.

In the second game of the doubleheader, pitching reigned until the bottom of the third, where South Carolina batted in six runs.

But the Spartans fought back. Matthijs and Sholtes both scored on an error to bring the score to 6-2. Kamryn Graves doubled the next two runners in, bringing the score even closer at 6-4.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, USC brought home two more runs per two RBIs by right fielder Katie Prebble and shortstop Madison Owens, making the score 8-4. They wouldn’t look back from there, winning 9-4.

USC starting pitcher Cayla Drotar got the win. Spartan starting pitcher Kylie Bouplon pitched the whole game, six innings, giving up nine earned runs, walking three, and striking out two.

The Spartan’s record is now 25-18 (9-4 SoCon). Catch them this Wednesday, April 24, at 6:00pm versus the University of North Carolina at the UNCG Softball Stadium. On Saturday, April 27, they start a three game series against SoCon rival Mercer.

Categories: Sports