FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3-7-07

College Softball: Wingate 7 (8 inn.) -5, AASU 6-6 (8 inn.)

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Ashley Bain’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Vanessa Becerra with the winning run, giving the Armstrong Atlantic softball squad a 6-5 win and a doubleheader split with visiting Wingate on Wednesday afternoon at the AASU Softball Field. Wingate took game one, 7-6, also in eight innings.

The Pirates (10-4) held a 5-2 lead going into the top of the seventh inning of game two, but a solo home run by Wingate’s Mandi Chester and a two-run shot by Courtney Wagner tied the score at 5-all. AASU reliever Nicole Huddleston came in to get the final out of the seventh, then set down the side in order in the top of the eighth inning. With Becerra placed on second with the international tiebreaker rule, Bain greeted reliever Ashley Green with a single up the middle on the first pitch she saw. Becerra rounded third and never stopped, scoring the game-winning run and earning the Pirates the split. Huddleston (3-0) hurled 1 1/3 shutout innings, striking out three, to pick up the win in relief. Green (15-5) pitched 2/3 of an inning, taking the loss.

In game one, however, Green hurled a complete game in defeating the Pirates in eight innings. AASU rallied from a 5-4 deficit to send the game into extra innings as Beerra hit a two-out, two-strike single to right field, scoring Kari Marisco to make it 5-all in the bottom of the seventh. Wingate plated two in the top of the eighth on an error and an RBI double by Megan McPhail. AASU scored once in the bottom of the eighth on Jessica Waters’ RBI single, but could not come up with the tying run. Waters (5-3) took the loss for the Pirates in the circle, ending a string of five straight winning decisions.

LaRonda McClain led Wingate at the plate in the doubleheader by going 6-for-10 with three runs scored, while Bain led the way for the Pirates with three hits and six RBI. She had a bases-clearing double in game one, and added a solo home run in game two to go with her game-winning RBI.

AASU is next in action at the 2007 FMU Patriot Invitational in Florence, S.C., on Friday, March 9, taking on Kutztown and Catawba at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.

- Pirates -