Lady Canes Softball ends regular season with doubleheader losses to Flagler

Published 11:01 pm Monday, April 23, 2018

By Staff Reports

 

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL – The GSW Softball Team did not finish the regular season like they would have hoped. They dropped their last two games of the regular season to Peach Belt Conference foe Flagler College 3-1 and 3-2 on Saturday, April 21, in St. Augustine, FL.

In the first game, the first four innings went scoreless between both teams. Then in the top of the fifth inning, Hayley Tierce doubled to right field, scoring Graysen Sanders to give the Lady Canes a 1-0 lead. Sanders had led off the inning with a walk.

However, the Lady Saints responded in their half of the fifth by scoring two runs. Natalie Murphy belted a double, scoring two runs. Flagler added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when NaJah Gerald grounded out to first base unassisted, scoring Kailey Perry. That would be all the Lady Saints would need to claim victory in Game 1.

Though she pitched well in the game, GSW starter Madason Messer (8-9) took the loss. Messer pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits. She walked none and struck out one.

Ally Marcano (10-12) got the win for the Lady Saints in Game 1. She pitched the entire game, giving up one run on five hits. She walked three batters and struck out nine.

The Lady Canes tried their best to win their last regular season game, but it was not to be as Flagler took the second game by the score of 3-2.

Just as in Game 1, the Lady Canes scored first. They scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Mikela Barlow reached first on a throwing error. Chloe Zoeller would later single and score the first run of the game. Ansley Dean would later hit a double, scoring Lauren Kuerzi to give GSW a 2-0 lead. However, the Lady Saints would come back. They scored one run in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. That would end up being the final score as Flagler took Game 2, sweeping the doubleheader.

Kuerzi had the best performance at the plate for the Lady Canes. She went 2-for-3 and scored a run. For the game, GSW left three runners on base. Ansley Dean (3-9) took the hard-luck loss for the Lady Canes. She pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. Dean walked two, struck out two and threw one wild pitch. Kaitlyn McCue (16-11) got the win for Flagler. McCue pitched the entire game, giving up two runs on four hits. She walked two and struck out eight GSW batters. The Lady Canes ran into two dominate pitchers in Marcano and McCue. Together, they struck out a combined 17 GSW batters.

The good news for Georgia Southwestern State is that Francis Marion, who trailed GSW by two games going into Saturday’s play, lost their doubleheader to Columbus State, ensuring that the Lady Canes (18-33, 7-13 PBC) will claim the eighth and final berth in the 2018 Peach Belt Conference Tournament.

The PBC Tournament will be played on Friday and Saturday, May 4th and 5th, at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, GA. It is a single elimination tournament.