Lady Barons Take Down Talladega
Courtesy of BPC
The Brewton-Parker College Lady Barons softball team hosted Talladega (Ala.) on Saturday for the final SSAC doubleheader of the regular season. The Lady Barons (23-23, 12-16 SSAC) swept the Tornadoes (11-27, 7-19 SSAC) with a 5-4 comeback win in game one and a 7-4 win for game two.
Game 1
Talladega scored first with a pair of runs in the second inning. The Tornadoes utilized two singles and a trip to bring home two scores for the early lead. Brewton-Parker managed to find its first two hits of the game during the bottom of the third inning to pull one run back from the Tornadoes. Alexis Bradshaw singled before taking two free bases to land at third. Erika Yatabe then knocked down an RBI bunt to score the Lady Baron’s first run of the game. Talladega swiftly answered with two more runs to jump out to a 4-1 lead during the top of the fourth inning. The Tornadoes produced four hits and left the bases loaded as their half of the inning ended. After scoreless fifth and sixth innings, the Lady Barons had only three outs to either extend the game or secure a late win. BPC was struck out from the leadoff position before Savannah Cook connected for a single to second base. BryAnn Pound came in to pinch-hit and singled before Abby Cox connected for a deep RBI single to score Cook. Bradshaw then earned a two-RBI single to level the score.
With two outs, Yatabe was walked to reach first. On a passed ball, Bradshaw and Yatabe advanced a base while Bradshaw was able to cross the dish from an error on Talladega to secure the win for the Lady Barons, 5-4.
Talladega narrowly outhit Brewton-Parker, 8-7. Bradshaw led BPC with two hits, two RBIs, and three stolen bases. Cook produced eight putouts followed by Mays with five. Natalie Hardy pitched for all seven innings allowing four earned runs on eight hits. She struck out five batters and walked one as well.
Game 2
The Lady Barons managed to strike first with a solo run in the first inning. Ashley Wilson produced a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After stealing third, Wilson then scored on a sacrifice fly out from MacKenzie Tripp. After a scoreless second inning, Talladega produced back-to-back scores in the third and fourth innings to lead 2-1. Brewton-Parker answered with a dominant fifth inning by slipping away to a 6-2 lead during the bottom of the fifth inning.
BPC produced six hits and five runs to reclaim the lead. Olivia Whitt, Cayden Fleming, Abbey Flowers, Cox, and Bradshaw all recorded a single while Chloe Strickland recorded a double. Cox, Wilson, Bradshaw, Flowers, and Strickland all earned an RBI in the inning as well. In the bottom of the sixth inning, BPC added one final run on two hits and a Talladega error to move to a 7-2 lead. The Tornadoes managed to gain back two runs in the top of the seventh, but BPC shut the door for a comeback to win, 7-4.
The Lady Barons notched 10 hits while Talladega produced just five. Wilson and Cox led BPC with two hits each while Tripp led with two RBIs and Fleming led with two runs scored. Flowers produced 13 putouts defensively. From the circle, Laykin Brown pitched a complete game. She gave up five hits and one earned run while striking out three batters and walking two. With the sweep, the regular season concludes for BPC. The Lady Barons now look ahead to this week’s conference tournament in Decatur, Ala.
