Central, S.C. – The Converse University softball team split a pair of games on Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field. The Valkyries lost the opening game 8-7 but came back and won the second game 5-3 to improve to 15-31 overall on the season and 6-16 in Conference Carolinas play.
Game 1 Notes:
Top 1
st –
Victoria Dichio hits a one out triple to right field and came around to score on an RBI double from
Ryan Finazzo.
Bottom 1
st – The Warriors hit back-to-back to singles leadoff the inning and scored the tying run following a fly out to right field.
Top 4
th –
Grace McKinney singled to start the inning and was replaced by
Abby Bardonaro on the base paths.
Makenna Hill recorded a sacrifice bunt to move Bardonaro over into scoring position.
Madeline Modica hit an RBI single to break up the 1-1 tie and moved into scoring position following an error.
Top 5
th –
Chesney Miles singled to second base and then stole both second and third to move into scoring position. Dichio singled to right field to give the Valkyries a 3-1 lead.
Top 7
th –
Ayellad Howard hit a one out single in the top of the seventh inning and moved into scoring position following a stolen base. Miles reached on an error by the shortstop, which allowed Ayellad to score.
Bottom 7
th – Barnhardt singled to right field with one out in the inning to give the Warriors a base runner. Following a fielders choice the Warriors were down to their final out, but Cannady singled through the right side to keep the inning alive. A double down the left field line by Johnson brought Southern Wesleyan back within a run and they tied the game on a Valkyries fielding error.
Top 8
th – Following a leadoff walk by
Ryan Finazzo the Valkyries recorded back-to-back outs with a runner in scoring position.
AJ Albano singled down the right field line to give the Valkyries a 5-4 lead, Modica followed with an RBI single of her own to give Converse and insurance run. Howard then doubled to center field to give the Valkyries a 7-4 advantage in extra innings.
Bottom 8
th – Copeland hit a one out single to left center field to put a pair of runners on the bases for Southern Wesleyan. Wolfe singled up the middle and a pair of runs came around to score for the Warriors. Following a Cannady walk, Johnson roped a walk-off single to right field to give the Warriors the win.
Notables Game 1:
Modica – 3-for-4 2 RBI's
Howard – 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 run scored
Dichio – 7.2 innings pitched, 3 earned runs, 9 strikeouts
Game 2 Notes:
Bottom 3
rd – Barnhardt singled up the middle to start the inning, following a pair of outs, Barnhardt came around on a fielding miscue from the Valkyries.
Top 4
th – Following a pair of ground outs,
Serrah Ballard homered to center field to tie the game at one.
Bottom 4
th – Yarborough drew a leadoff walk and moved to second following a Prater single through the left side of the infield. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up 60 feet and a ground out by Dennis gave the Warriors the lead once again.
Top 5
th –
Chesney Miles hit an infield single and stole second and third to get into scoring position. Miles came around to score on a wild pitch and the game was tied once again.
Top 6
th – For the second time in the game Ballard hit a homerun, this time it gave the Valkyries their first lead of the game at 3-2.
Bottom 7
th – Barnhardt reached on an error to start the inning and following a pair of outs advanced to second on a wild pitch. Johnson singled to right field to tie the game once again.
Top 8
th – Dichio started the inning on second base and moved to third following a double by Modica. A sacrifice bunt by Finazzo allowed Dichio to come around and score the go-ahead run. Ballard singled up the middle and drove in her third run of the afternoon.
Notables Game 2:
Ballard – 3-for-4, 2 Homeruns, 3 RBI's, 2 runs scored, 8.0 innings pitched, 1 earned run.
Next Up:
The Valkyries will celebrate senior day tomorrow afternoon at Tyger River Stadium. Converse will host Barton with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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