Salisbury, N.C. – The Brevard College women’s softball team played their first game in over two weeks on Wednesday afternoon, as the Tornados fell in their SAC double-header of the year to the Lady Indians of Catawba College at Whitely Field.

 

With the two losses on the day, the Tornados fall to 8-12 on the season, while Catawba moves to 18-19 overall with the win.

 

The Tornados jumped out to an early lead in game one, only to have the Lady Indians use a five run second inning to pull ahead for good and hold off BC for the 11-6 win.

 

BC got on the board first, pushing across three runs in the first inning of play. Lead-off hitter Kristin Tettemer led off the inning with a single to short, where she was moved over to second on a Kristina Clayton sacrifice bunt.   Second-baseman Katie Thornburg then singled to center field, followed by a Jennifer Brown walk to load the bases with one out.

 

With left-fielder Beth Brooker at the plate, Tettemer scored on a wild pitch to put BC up 1-0. In the same at bat, Brooker doubled to left field to plate both Thornburg and Brown to give BC an early 3-0 advantage.

 

However, the Lady Indians answered with a five run second inning, as Catawba put together five hits to pull ahead of the Tornados 5-3. With two outs in the second, the Lady Indians collected four straight hits to take the lead. Cassie Markham singled home two runs and Callie Gordy singled home the tying run.

 

Ryann Baker then doubled home a run, followed by an RBI single by way of Allie Marshall to plate the final run of the frame.

 

After a Markham bunt single scored George from third to push Catawba’s lead to 6-3, the Tornados pushed across two runs of their own in the top of the fourth to cut into the Catawba lead.

 

First-baseman Sarah Carlos led off the inning with a double to right center, which was followed by a single to right off the bat of left-fielder Amber Clontz. With runners on first and third, senior Lindsey Morgan then singled through the left side to plate Carlos from third to put the score at 6-4.

 

Later in the inning with two outs, Thornburg singled to center to score Morgan from third and cut the Catawba lead to 6-5.

 

That was as close as the Tornados would get, as Catawba outscored BC 5-1 in the final three innings of play to pull away with the 11-6 win.

 

The win went to Catawba’s Rachel Christian (4-6), while Meghan Cobb earned the save as she allowed just one hit with five strikeouts over three innings of relief.

 

The loss went to BC’s Jennifer Gift (5-7), as she went all six innings in the circle for the Tornados.

 

At the plate, the Tornados were led by Thornburg, who was 3-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Centerfielder Kristin Tettemer was 3-4 with a run scored, while Brooker was 1-3 with a double and two RBIs.

 

For Catawba, Markam was 3-5 with three RBIs and one run scored, while Gordy was 3-4 with one RBI and a run scored.

 

 

In game two, the Lady Indians continued their offense surge, as they scored 10 runs on 11 hits to pull away with a 10-2 win in five innings.

 

Catawba scored four runs in the first and two runs in the second to pull ahead of the Tornados 6-0 after the first two frames.

 

BC did not give up, pushing across two runs in the top of the third headlined by a Katie Thornburg RBI double to right to cut the Catawba lead to 6-2.

 

However, the Lady Indians put the game out of reach in the bottom of the third as again the home team plated four runs in the inning to take the demanding 10-2 lead.

 

Catawba hurler Meghan Cobb (12-11) picked up the win, as she gave up two runs, both unearned, on six hits, while striking out four BC hitters.

 

Senior pitcher Aimee Rogers (3-5) was saddled with the loss, as she gave up six runs, five earned, on six hits in two innings of work.

 

Third-baseman Amber Clontz was 2-2 with a run scored, while freshman first-baseman Sarah Carlos was 2-2. Thornburg was 1-2 with an RBI double for the contest.

 

At the plate for Catawba, Gordy, George and Marshall all went 2-2, with George and Marshall driving in two runs apiece. VanBuskirk was 1-3 with a triple, three RBIs and a run scored.

 

The Tornados (8-12) will continue their tough SAC schedule on Saturday, March 29, when BC will travel to Mars Hill, N.C. to take on the Lady Lions. The double-header is slated for a 1 p.m. start time.

 

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