Softball opens season with road sweep
Cloee-Anna Merritt and Kendyl McCollister combined for a shutout in game one before Erin Forgety and Kesney Brown combined to allow only one earned run in game two, and Milligan University’s softball team walked away with two opening-day wins, 8-0 and 11-3, Wednesday against Montreat.
MARION, N.C. (Feb. 10, 2021) – Cloee-Anna Merritt and Kendyl McCollister combined for a shutout in game one before Erin Forgety and Kesney Brown combined to allow only one earned run in game two, and Milligan University's softball team walked away with two opening-day wins, 8-0 and 11-3, Wednesday against Montreat.
Milligan put the eight-run rule into effect by the fifth inning of both games on the way to starting the season 2-0. Merritt earned the win in game one allowing only two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Forgety picked up the game-two win with five K's over four innings.
Game One | Milligan 8, Montreat 0
Milligan scored a run in each of the first three innings before exploding for five runs in the fifth. Grace Jones singled and scored to give the Buffs the eventual game-winning run. Katie Cronin singled and scored to make it 2-0. Then Jones scored again in the third to make it 3-0 on an RBI ground ball from April Alvarado.
In the fifth, Savannah Nocera doubled to lead off before coming home on a Jones single. Jones and Neelee Griffith would come around to score as well, and Morgan Overholser provided a two-run single to finish off the scoring.
Jones went 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI in game one. Nocera also tallied a multihit game with a 2-for-3 effort. Merritt went the first four innings inside the circle, followed by McCollister for the final inning. They combined for a three-hit shutout.
Game Two | Milligan 11, Montreat 3
Milligan again jumped into the lead in the top of the first inning of game two. Lindsey Slagle scored the go-ahead run on an Allee Griffith single. After an error allowed a run to come across for Montreat in the bottom half, Milligan quickly put the game out of reach with runs in each of the next four innings, including four in the fourth.
Slagle provided an RBI double to start the fourth-inning scoring and would come around to score herself on a Bailey Cantrell single in the next at-bat. A Halie King single and Miranda Millington triple also drove in runs in the inning.
Kara Weems hit the only home run of the day to lead off the fifth.
In all, Milligan's bats produced 13 hits in the nightcap. Four Buffs had multiple hits, led by Slagle who was 3-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs.
Up next
Weather pending, Milligan is set to travel to Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. The Buffs' first home game is set for Saturday, Feb. 20, against West Virginia Tech. Milligan will face Montreat again this season in Appalachian Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, March 10.