Pioneers Softball Splits Against Louisburg College

LOUISBURG, NC – The Lady Pioneers softball team continued a tough road schedule on Friday with a split against Louisburg College.
 
SMC and Louisburg traded leads back in forth in a 10-inning game one marathon.

The Lady Pioneers quickly put up three runs on the board in the first inning, but Louisburg tied up the game in the second inning and went ahead 5-3 off starter Lacey Dinney in the fifth inning.

Freshman Ashira Dobison relieved Dinney for the final five innings allowing five runs, six hits and four strikeouts.

The Pioneers held the lead after the sixth and seventh innings but Louisburg battled back to tie each time and eventually take the lead in the bottom of the tenth, walking off with a 10-9 win.

Jena Westmoreland led the Pioneers at the plate by going 4-7 with five runs batted in, while Jackie Slawson continued her hot hitting at the plate by adding three hits.
 
The Pioneers dropped their 10th loss of the season in one run games.

"We are not getting the results in these close games that we want, but we have to like the fact that we are in every single game we are playing. We hit the ball better today than we have in a while, with nine runs on 13 hits. Hopefully that will continue as we are a very good hitting team and maybe we can get a few breaks and win more of these close games," said head coach Thad Fox.

The slugfest at Louisburg continued in game two as the Pioneers jumped out early to a 3-0 lead again in the first inning and hung on for a 9-8 win. The two teams combined for five homeruns, 17 runs, and 21 hits.

Kelsey Pruitt started the scoring for SMC in the first inning, after taking the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for her first career homerun.

Jazmine Holliday continued her strong play for the day reaching on a hit, stealing second base and scoring on Westmoreland's double to left. The Pioneers tacked on two more in the fourth inning after Holliday reached on a fielder's choice, stole second base once again and trotted home on Westmoreland's first career homerun.

Leah Babson drove in Brittany Phillips in the fifth inning with her third hit of the game. SMC added more in the sixth inning when Westmoreland reached on her seventh hit of the day, scoring on Dena Messer's double to deep center field.

Haley Register doubled to left scoring Messer and eventually scored on Phillips' single to right, making the score 9-0.

Pitcher Britni Ward cruised through the first five innings only allowing one base runner on a walk in the second.

The Hurricanes flexed their muscles in the sixth though, scoring seven runs on six hits, with three homeruns, in the inning.

Dana Smith relieved Ward, getting the final out of the inning and getting out of a jam in the seventh and the tying run on third base.

"Take out the 6th inning and this was just about as perfect as you can play. We left too many runners on base, but nine runs on 13 hits is a very strong day. Louisburg is probably the best hitting team in the Region; they have been putting up large number," said Fox.

"But we had some great individual performances today in both games. Britni Ward was lights out. She has been on a roll lately and will continue to pitch well. We didn't expect Louisburg to go quietly in the game, but we didn't expect three homeruns in one inning. I'm just glad we had such a cushion and were able to hang on. It wouldn't be right for us to not play in a close game though," he added.
 
Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 99th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, contact the SMC Office of Sports Information at (864) 587-4008.