CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball concluded a five-game road swing on Tuesday suffering a pair of defeats at Queens University as the Catamounts fell 1-0 in eight innings before a 4-0 setback in game two from The Stick Williams Dream Fields.
Senior Jeralynn Wells picked up hits in both ends of Tuesday's doubleheader to extend her hit streak to four games. Lily Bell, Mattie Mentel, and Becka Wonsick each got in the hit column in game one to join Wells with hits. Classmate Savannah Baldwin tallied a base knock along with Wells in game two.
Game One – Queens 1, Western Carolina 0 (8 Innings)
Queens used a one-out triple to straightaway centerfield compounded with a WCU throwing error to score the lone run in the game to claim the extra-inning victory in Tuesday's opener.
Both teams tallied base hits in the opening frame, but the pitchers were up to the task early by erasing the threat. Over the next two innings, both teams went one over the minimum at the dish but were unable to turn those hits into runs through three frames.
The Catamounts and the Royals sent the minimum to the plate in the fourth before Sydney Dirks reached base via a one-out walk in the fifth, but the Royals stopped the threat without harm. Queens moved a runner around to third base as it took advantage of a fielding error, but a pair of first-pitch outs kept it scoreless after five.
Becka Wonsick opened the sixth with a leadoff single before Bell reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to third with a steal and Royals error. Queens got a pair of outs to keep the game scoreless.
Queens took advantage of a two-out error in the home half of the sixth before a Tessa Juett strikeout to keep the game deadlocked at zero headed to the seventh inning.
In the final inning of regulation, Wells reached base with a one-out single, but a quick strikeout and foul out sent the game to the bottom of the seventh still 0-0. Juett allowed a two-out walk but quickly got a fly out to send game one to the eighth.
Western Carolina (7-16) received a leadoff walk from Juett. After being sacrificed into scoring position, a fielder's choice and heads-up baserunning from Bell allowed both to reach base. A foul out down the right field line saw Juett and Bell advance to scoring position before a popout got the hosts out of the inning.
Queens used the one-out triple, followed by a throwing error from WCU, to plate the lone run of Tuesday's opener and win 1-0 over the Catamounts.
Juett (5-8) suffered the loss for WCU. She pitched 7.1 innings, scattered three hits, and recorded four strikeouts while allowing one unearned run.
Jordan Dunn (2-3) went the distance for the Royals with 8.0 innings of work with four hits allowed and tallied eight strikeouts while only allowing two free passes.
Game Two – Queens 4, Western Carolina 0
Queens completed the two-game sweep in the nightcap on Tuesday, plating a pair of runs in the first inning and adding a couple more in the fourth while keeping the Catamounts off the scoreboard.
Queens (13-15) carried the momentum from the extra-inning win in game one by collecting a pair of runs in the opening inning after a 1-2-3 top of the first to gain the 2-0 lead in game two.
Wells picked up a one-out single and advanced all the way around to third base, including her fourth steal, but a pair of Royal strikeouts kept Western Carolina (7-17) off the scoreboard in the second. Queens drew a one-out walk before Catamount starter Makenzie Martin induced a flyout and strikeout in the frame to keep it a two-run game.
Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings in the third before the Catamounts were sat down in order in the fourth.
In the home half of the fourth, the Royals used a two-run single after three straight base knocks to increase the lead to 4-0 after four complete.
After each team faced the minimum in the fifth and the sixth inning, Baldwin tallied a one-out single in the seventh and advanced to third on a pair of pitching mistakes from Queens when her classmate Wells reached on a hit-by-pitch. She swiped second before Queens finished with a foul out to claim the 4-0 win.
Martin (0-6) was tagged with the loss after 3.2 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, and scattering six hits. Martin tallied three strikeouts for the Catamounts. Taylor Norton came on in relief of Martin and tossed 2.1 perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts.
The Catamounts return home for the first time in league play with a three-game Southern Conference series against Mercer, beginning on Friday, March 29, with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. The series with the Bears wraps up the next afternoon with a Noon first pitch from the Catamount Softball Complex. All three contests will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
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