Pioneers Split on Day One of Cola Classic

Columbia, S.C. – The Spartanburg Methodist College softball team split its two contests at the Cola Classic on Friday. The Pioneers won its first matchup of the day by a 9-4 margin over WVU Tech and lost its second by an 8-2 margin to Coastal Georgia.

The 1-1 record puts the Pioneers at 4-2 on the season with two more games on the schedule for Saturday.

Friday's first game saw SMC jump out to a 5-0 lead through the first three and half innings on its way to the 9-4 win over the Golden Bears of WVU Tech. Gracie Starnes and Adriana Stump-Frias each had three hits and two RBI in the win. Bailey Kiser struck out seven in the start, pitching four innings of two-hit softball for the win to raise her record to 2-1.

Starnes had two-RBI triple in the fourth that put SMC ahead 5-0 and Stump-Frias hit a solo home run in the sixth to make it an 8-4 contest.

SMC scored three runs in the first inning on just one hit for the early lead. Kiser kept the WVU batters in check, striking six of the first seven batters she faced before surrendering a single in the bottom of the third. With a 3-0 lead, the two-RBI triple by Starnes stretched the lead to 5-0 in the fourth. 

WVU Tech scored twice in the bottom of the fourth before SMC got the two runs back in the fifth for a 7-2 lead. The Bears scored twice in the bottom of the fifth as SMC added a run each in the sixth and seventh on the way to the win.

The second game of the day saw Coastal Georgia take a 3-0 lead to a RBI double by Maddie Handy make it a 3-1 game in the third inning. The Mariners came back with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.  The Pioneers plated its final run in the sixth on a RBI single by Stump-Frias.

SMC had seven hits in the loss with Stump-Frias leading the offense with a pair to go along with a RBI.

The Pioneers will wrap up the weekend with a matchup against Rio Grande at 10 a.m. and Point at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.