The Brevard College softball team (2-0) took both games of its season-opening doubleheader against Carolina University (0-2) on Wednesday afternoon at the BC Softball Field.
The Tornados walked off in a five-inning mercy-rule victory, 9-1, in game one before taking a 3-1 victory in the second contest to sweep the twin bill from the Bruins.
GAME ONE: BREVARD 9, CAROLINA UNIV. 1 (5 INNINGS)
Taylor Hannah kicked off her senior campaign with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, scoring twice while driving in one run. Emily White slugged a pair of doubles, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Mikayla Morgan went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Serena Rodgers-Luckey tallied a pair of singles and scored twice. Brittany Franks and Morgan each logged triples, while Jocelyn Folkers and Savannah Jones stole one base each.
Kaitlynn Farmer (1-0) got the ball in game number one, hurling a complete game five innings allowing just one hit and one earned run while striking out five batters.
After Hannah led off the bottom of the first with a single, White stroked a double to left field, putting runners at second and third with one out. Morgan hit a grounder up the middle that got through, scoring both runners and giving BC the early 2-0 advantage.
The Bruins cut the deficit in half after a double steal plated their first run of the afternoon. Brevard had runners on the corners in the bottom of the second inning, but couldn’t capitalize as BC held a 2-1 advantage heading into the third inning.
Both sides went down in order in the third before Brevard was able to plate a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, all with two outs. Hannah drove in a run on an RBI-single before a fielding error gave BC its second run of the inning, as the Tornados took a 4-1 advantage into the fifth.
Back-to-back leadoff triples from Morgan and Franks extended the BC lead to a 5-1 margin. Autumn Lollis tallied an RBI on the next at-bat with a groundout before Brevard loaded the bases up with two outs. Another Bruin error extended the inning, allowing Brevard to make it 7-1 before White stepped up with a chance to walk it off via mercy rule. The graduate from Shelby, North Carolina delivered, drilling a two-RBI double to left that clinched a 9-1 victory for Brevard.
GAME TWO: BREVARD 3, CAROLINA UNIVERSITY 1
Freshman pitcher Abby Delp (1-0) got the ball to start the second game, earning her first collegiate victory with a complete-game effort, throwing seven innings of five-hit, one-run ball with four strikeouts.
Franks paced the Brevard offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, driving in a pair of runs for the Tornados. Morgan drove in Brevard’s other score, while Hannah and White also logged singles for BC.
Brevard got the scoring going early, as Morgan singled home Hannah to give the Tornados the early lead, 1-0. The Bruins answered back in the top of the second inning, hitting an RBI single to tie the contest up. Delp forced a groundout to Morgan at shortstop to end the scoring threat.
The Bruins got runners on the corners in the top of the third before Delp and the Tornado defense got out of the jam. Franks drove home Hannah on a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third to plate the go-ahead run, 2-1.
Both sides traded scoreless frames in the fourth before Brevard plated a key insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. After consecutive outs to start the inning, White hit a single to center field that was followed by a Morgan walk. Franks drove her second run in of the game, scoring freshman pinch-runner Gabby Hooper to extend the lead, 3-1.
Despite a leadoff double in the top of the sixth, Delp and the Tornados held the Bruins scoreless as the contest shifted to the bottom of the sixth. The Bruins escaped a scoring threat by Brevard after catching Folkers stealing, but BC remained up 3-1 heading into the game’s final inning.
Delp and the Tornado defense turned in a 1-2-3 seventh inning to complete the doubleheader sweep, kicking off 2022 with a pair of victories.
The Tornados will prepare for a rematch with the Bruins in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.