Bobcats edge Patriots in game one before rain falls

FLORENCE, SC – Pinch-runner Stephanie Lezcano scored the go-ahead run on a great slide at home plate avoiding the catcher’s tag and conference-leading Georgia College & State University went on to a 3-1 win over 19th-ranked Francis Marion University in game one of Saturday’s Peach Belt Conference softball doubleheader. FMU freshman Ashley Jaramillo blooped an RBI single into shallow left field in the fifth frame to tie the second game at 3-3 before rain halted play in the bottom of the sixth inning.

After game one, Francis Marion stands at 23-11 overall and 5-6 in the PBC, while GCSU is 24-15 and 10-1.

In the first game, Francis Marion took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning. Lead-off batter Shannan Tyson was hit by a pitch, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lakyn Bendle, and came around to score on two illegal pitch calls against GCSU righty Mandy Chandler (21-8). Chandler leads the nation in wins and is fifth nationally in strikeouts.

The Bobcats knotted the score on a solo homer by catcher Anna Parker in the top of the second. GCSU then pushed across two unearned runs in the top of the fifth frame. Lezcano scored her run on an RBI ground out to third base by Allison Schwimer. The throw from the first baseman beat the runner to the plate, but Lezcano avoided the tag with a head-first slide and reached back to brush the plate with her hand. Lindsey Swanson followed with an RBI single to right to plate an insurance run.

Both teams had only four hits in the opener. Junior left-hander Michaela Wolf (13-7) was tagged with the loss. She struck out five and walked no one, while Chandler fanned eight and also did not issue a walk.

In the second game, Jaramillo doubled in the bottom of the first, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another illegal pitch call against Chandler. Tyson walked with the bases loaded in the next inning to up the Patriot lead to 2-0.

GCSU center fielder Sherquita Bostick tied the score in the Bobcats’ next at bat when she hammered a two-run homer over the left field fence. The Bobcats took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Lezcano, again pinch running, came across to score on an RBI single to right center by Haley Holloway.

Facing the threat of approaching rain, down 3-2, and finishing the required five innings to make the contest official, the Patriots rallied in the fifth inning. Tyson lined a double to right center field, took third on a sacrifice bunt by Bendle, and then scored the tying run on Jaramillo’s single to left. However, the Patriots left runners on second and third in that frame.

FMU freshman right-hander Lauren Bubeck then stranded three Bobcat runners on base as the rain fell in the top of the sixth inning. FMU was not able to send a runner to the plate in the bottom of the frame before the umpires stopped play.

Jaramillo was 2-for-2 in game two, while Holloway had a pair of singles for the Bobcats. Chandler struck out seven more Patriots in the second game, while Bubeck fanned three and walked three. Only two of the three runs she allowed were earned.

FMU plays a PBC twinbill at Columbus State University on Monday at noon., while GCSU plays at Armstrong Atlantic State University on Monday at 2 p.m.



Michael G. Hawkins