By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Craig Fletcher said it was a must-win situation for his William Carey University softball team Friday against Stillman College.
With four teams, including the Crusaders and the Tigers, within two games of first place in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings, Fletcher needed not just a split, but a sweep of Friday’s doubleheader.
And he got just that, as Carey took both games of the SSAC twinbill at Joseph and Mary Fail Field, winning the first game 7-0 and taking the second 3-2 in an eight-inning thriller.
The wins kept NAIA 19th-ranked WCU tied with Mobile for second place in the league standings at 15-5 in conference games (31-9 overall), a game behind first-place Middle Georgia State.
Stillman, which had won 10 straight games coming into this weekend’s play, dropped to 30-10 and 12-8, still in fourth place, but now three games behind Carey and Mobile.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Fletcher, the veteran coach of the Crusaders. “Today was huge. We needed to sweep today, and not just split. I’m very proud of the girls for digging in and getting it done.”
The Tigers, who have been one of the turnaround stories of the season, gave Carey plenty of work, even in the opener, a methodical effort in which the Crusaders displayed their full repertoire of abilities.
Senior left-hander Haley Nations surrendered a one-out walk in the top of the first inning, but the runner was erased when junior first baseman Carley Kidder snagged a line drive and doubled up the runner to retire the side.
Kidder also had two other unassisted plays at first and made a diving catch at ground level in the infield on a little flare.
“Honestly, I know I have to come out here and do my job,” said Kidder. “Everybody has to do their job, and every day we come out here to get better. Defensively, we’re pretty good right now.”
The Crusaders went right to work putting their offensive game plan into action in the bottom of the first, leading to two runs.
Junior Brooke Tanner opened the inning by hitting a blooper that fell into shallow leftfield for a single. She immediately stole second base, and junior Rachel Rodriguez moved Tanner to third on a sacrifice and scored when Kidder hit a single up the middle.
It was doubly costly for the Tigers, because it not only cost them a run but also the services of their starting pitcher, junior right-hander Lexi McCray.
Kidder’s hot shot smacked McCray’s throwing hand on its way to centerfield and she was unable to continue. Despite only facing three batters, McCray (7-6) was saddled with the loss.
The Crusaders added to their lead when play resumed. Junior Dee Dee West singled behind Kidder before freshman reliever Jasmine Wade got an out on a force play. But freshman Albanie Fussell drove West in to make it 2-0.
“I just focus on getting on base any way I can,” said Tanner, who was 4 of 5 in the first game and 5 of 8 for the day. “If I have to bunt it and run, or if I have to hit it and run. Either way, I just focus on getting on base.
“Stealing on the first pitch is our coach’s choice. We’d maybe prefer second or third pitch, but whatever he calls is OK, because we’re usually quick enough to get over there.”
The steal was used to great effect all afternoon for Carey. The Crusaders stole four bases in the opener and three more in the nightcap, and almost all of them led to runs. Tanner had two steals in the first game, and junior Alex Davis had three for the day, two in the second game.
“It does put a lot of pressure on a defense,” said Fletcher. “It differs from game to game. I just try to watch who we’re facing, look at some statistics on some things and set our game plan.
“Today, I thought we could run instead of having to move runners along with bunts and outs. You get that extra out when you can steal a base, and today it paid off.”
WCU employed the same strategy to add two more runs in the second. Davis led off with a walk, stole second, took third on Tanner’s bunt single. Tanner promptly stole second, and with two out West smacked a two-run single to left.
“We struggled hitting the ball a little earlier in the year,” said Kidder. “We were swinging at stuff down in the zone. Now I think we’re starting to look for our pitch and to wait for it.”
That was way more help than Nations needed to improve her record to 11-4 for the season. Nations was out earlier in the season with some back pain.
Friday, however, she looked like the anchor of the staff she’s been for years now. Nations went the distance, allowing two hits, a walk and she struck out seven.
“I just tried to fill up the zone today and make sure everything was working right,” said Nations. “I had to make that my stuff was on and that I could locate my pitches where I wanted, and get ahead when I needed to.
“It was like they were getting on the balls early, but they weren’t getting a good piece of it, because I was putting it where it needed to be. So they were just able to roll over it to get the routine groundouts and popups.”
Nations pitched to the minimum number of batters through the first six innings. She allowed a leadoff single in the fourth to sophomore Lauren Haskins, but Haskins was immediately erased at second when she slid past the bag on a steal and was tagged out.
Carey could have brought the game to an early end on the eight-run mercy rule, but let several chances to add more runs slip away. In all, the Crusaders had 17 hits, but left 13 runners on base.
“We made it close,” said Fletcher. “I thought we should have opened it up a couple of times in some situations. We had some opportunities and didn’t get it done at times, but in the end we held on and did what we needed to do.”
WCU did accept a gift run in the fifth, on one of two Tiger errors. Freshman Ryanne Hornsby led off with a single, then Davis singled with one out. Tanner followed with a single to rightfield and the run scored when the throw to the plate went over the catcher’s head.
Junior Hannah Dufault hit a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh and Tanner had a run-scoring single for the final run of the game. Haskins had a leadoff single in the seventh for the only other hit for Stillman, then Nations got three quick outs to nail it down.
The second game had considerably more drama than the first. Two freshman right-handers, Faith Byram for Stillman and Hornsby for Carey, matched zeroes until the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Tigers got two-out singles after two were out in the first, second and fourth innings, but Hornsby took care of business to keep the game scoreless. WCU only had a lone two-out single by Fussell in the second against Byram.
That changed dramatically, though, in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Rachel Rodriguez opened the inning by perfectly placing a bunt in no-man’s land between home plate, third base and the pitching circle.
Kidder then smacked a gapper to the fence in right-centerfield, scoring Rodriguez with a stand-up triple. Kidder came home on a single just inside the leftfield line by junior Susie LeBert for a 2-0 lead.
“I had a runner on, and I just thought to myself, ‘just hit it hard somewhere,’” said Kidder. “If you hit it hard, you’ll get somebody around soon. So I hit it hard, and luckily, it went into the gap.”
Stillman came right back, however, in the top of the fifth with two runs to pull even again, and it was the bottom of the Tigers batting order that got it done.
With one out, senior Savannah Mayes and junior Taylor Roland had back-to-back singles. Haskins beat out a drag bunt and the Crusaders fumbled the ball away at first base, allowing a run to score, with Roland taking third. She tied it on a groundball to second.
Both pitchers shrugged off their bump in the road and rolled through the next two innings.
“She did really good,” said Kidder. “She knew how to challenge us offensively. She threw pitches that we were sometimes chasing, sometimes she’d jam us. But once we settled in, we made it work.”
Davis reached third in the Carey fifth on a bunt single, a steal and a sacrifice, but she was unable to score.
The Tigers got a runner on in the sixth, but didn’t score, and Haskins doubled with two out in the seventh on a bad hop off the bag at second, but Hornsby got a groundout to end the threat.
Byram needed just seven pitches to get three outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Hornsby only used five to retire the Tigers in the top of the eighth.
“I’m very pleased with the pitching,” said Fletcher. “Haley did a great job for us. She’s not quite fully back yet, but we’re starting to see the Haley of old, and I think she’ll only get better.
“Ryanne has been rock-solid all year long. That duo is tough to beat. If we play behind them, give them a few runs, we should have an opportunity to be successful.”
It was Davis and Tanner who got the winning rally going for the Crusaders in the eighth. Davis led off the inning with a single to right-center, stole second and tool third on Tanner’s single to almost the same spot in the outfield.
Rodriguez put a bunt in front of the plate and easily beat the throw to first, loading the bases with none out.
The Tigers did get an out, when Kidder hit a flyball to centerfield, but the throw from the outfield got over the catcher’s head, and Davis scampered home from third with the winning run.
Hornsby (16-4) allowed two runs, one earned, seven hits, six strikeouts and she did not walk a batter. Byram (9-2) allowed three runs, two earned, eight hits, she only struck out two, but like Hornsby, she didn’t allow a base on balls.
“I think we’re making a good turnaround after where we were a couple of weeks ago,” said Nations. “We had a little slump, I think we’re on our way back up.”
Both teams are scheduled to swing back into action on Saturday, but the weather may change those plans. Carey is hosting Blue Mountain in an 11 a.m. doubleheader, while Stillman travels to face Mobile.
However rain is expected along the Gulf Coast on Saturday, which may negate both doubleheaders. Carey officials said they would decide Saturday morning if the games will be played or not.
Carey Softball Linescores
Friday at Joseph & Mary Fail Field
William Carey 7, Stillman 0
Stillman 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
Carey 220 012 x – 7 17 0
STILLMAN (30-9, 12-7 in SSAC): Lauren Haskins 2 1B. LP – Lexi McCray (7-6). Also pitching – Jasmine Wade, Elizabeth Boso.
WILLIAM CAREY (30-9, 14-5 in SSAC): Brooke Tanner 4 1B; Carley Kidder 1B; Dee Dee West 2 1B; Susie LeBert 2 1B; Albanie Fussell 1B; Ryanne Hornsby 3 1B; Kinley Hogue 1B; Hannah Dufault 1B. WP – Haley Nations (11-4) 7 Ks.
William Carey 3, Stillman 2 (8 innings)
Stillman 000 020 00 – 2 7 1
Carey 000 200 01 – 3 8 1
STILLMAN (30-10, 12-8 in SSAC): Lauren Haskins 2B, 1B; Brooklyn Pennington1B; Baillie Seales 1B; Carolyn Carter 1B; Taylor Roland 1B. LP – Faith Byram (9-2).
WILLIAM CAREY (31-9, 15-5 in SSAC): Brooke Tanner 1B; Rachel Rodriguez 2 1B; Carley Kidder 3B; Susie LeBert 1B; Albanie Fussell 1B. WP – Ryanne Hornsby (16-4) 6 Ks.
