Softball traveled to Catawba Valley to play a three-game conference series this past weekend. The Trojans took game two, but the Red Hawks were able to grab the rubber match to take the series.
FTCC vs. Catawba Valley
Game One- 1-4, Loss
The Red Hawks scored first in the second inning and again in the third for all four of their runs. The Trojans were able to scrape one across in the top of the six, but could not score anymore in the seventh.
The Trojans had three hits in the game, which all came in the sixth inning. Kaylee Frank (Fayetteville, NC) led off with a single and Krista McLean (Dunn, NC) followed with another single. Isabella Finelli (Pembroke, NC) then hit a one out single to load the bases before Trinity Gaither (Bunnlevel, NC) hit into a fielder’s choice to get one run on the scoreboard.
Tam Lowery (Raeford, NC) pitched all six innings. She give up six hits, four runs and had four strikeouts.
Game Two- 5-2, Win
The Trojans scored early in game two putting up two runs in the top of the first inning. Finelli started the game off with a single. With two outs, Nyla Mitchell (Lumberton, NC) reached on an error to keep the inning alive. Lowery and Ava Basolt (Sanford, NC) hit back to back singles to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
No more runs were scored until the top of the fifth when the Trojans added one more run to their lead. Morgan Brady (Fayetteville, NC) led off with a single. With one out, Lowery hit a hard ground ball RBI single to center field.
The Red Hawks scored their first run in the bottom of the fifth to pull the game within two runs.
The Trojans plated two more in the top of the sixth to secure the win in game two.
McLean drew a one out walk before Finelli hit her first homerun of the season over the left field fence to give the Trojans a 5-1 lead.
The Red Hawks scored one more in the bottom of the sixth, but were unable to get any of their baserunners to home plate in the bottom of the seventh.
The Trojans had 11 hits in the game. The offense was led by Finelli who went 4-4 with a homerun and Lowery who was 3-4 with a double.
Basolt pitched the majority of game two throwing 5.1 innings giving up both runs. Lowery finished the final 1.2 innings with three strikeouts.
Game Three- 3-5, Loss
The Red Hawks scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead and never lost it.
The Trojans scored their first run in the top of the fourth when Mitchell hit a one out double and Frank singled to get her in.
The game was pulled within two runs, when the Trojans plated two more in the top of the sixth. Lowery hit a solo homerun and Mitchell followed with her second double of the game. With two outs, Basolt singled to left field to score Mitchell from second base.
The Trojans were unable to catch the Red Hawk’s lead in the seventh.
Mitchell went 2-3 with two doubles to lead the offense.
Lowery pitched the first three innings giving up five hits and three earned runs. Basolt threw the final three innings.
Softball will host Bryant & Stratton College this weekend for their next conference series. Saturday’s first pitch is at 1pm to start the doubleheader and the single game on Sunday is set for a 1pm start time.
Softball Schedule