March 17, 2008

Box Score

Pembroke, NC - The Lady Broncos softball team visited the No. 16 ranked Braves of UNC Pembroke in a doubleheader and were defeated, 7-0 in game one and 10-2 (5 innings) in game two, in non-conference play on Sunday afternoon at LRA Softball Field.

UNCP (26-9) tallied 18 hits over the course of the two games. Fayetteville State (5-7) connected for 14 hits over the two-game span, but committed nine errors in the doubleheader sweep.

Game one saw the Lady Broncos and Braves battle to a scoreless tie heading in the fourth inning when Pembroke exploded for five run. UNCP garnered only three hits in the inning but FSU committed three costly errors that prolonged the inning allowing the Braves to put five runs on the scoreboard in the fourth.

Pembroke added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase its lead before eventually winning game one 7-0. Martika Elmore, a Fayetteville, NC native, earned the win for UNCP pitching five innings of shutout ball giving up three hits and striking out seven batters.

The Lady Broncos sparked the scoring in game two at the top of the first inning on a single from senior Shatia Gidrey; which allowed sophomore DeOndra Peterson to cross home plate from third. In the bottom of the second, Fayetteville State would once again give up a big inning, this time allowing six runs on three hits while committing five errors in the frame to fall behind 6-2 in the game.

Gidrey drove in another run in the top of the fourth to pull the Broncos to within four runs of the Braves. But in the fifth, Pembroke scored four runs on five hits as a double down the leftfield line to scored a runner from second to give the Braves an eight-run lead at 10-2, ending the game via the NCAA run rule.

Freshman Alicia Frank was credited with the two losses. Frank pitched ten and one-thirds innings allowing 17 runs (six earned) on 18 hits with two K's and three walks.

Fayetteville State will travel to Murfreesboro, NC on Friday, March 21st for a doubleheader with Chowan University. Game one is set to begin at 2 pm.