Brendle homers in Softball’s season-opening doubleheader

St. Augustine, Fla. —- The Catawba College softball team opened its 2024 campaign on Friday, falling in both games of their doubleheader at the Flagler Invitational against host Flagler and Barry.

GAME ONE | Flagler 3, Catawba 2

TEAM STATS

- Catawba recorded 10 hits to Flagler's six

- Each team hit a homer for their lone extra-base hit of the game

- Flagler committed both errors in the contest

- The Saints left two runners on base to the Catawba Indians' 12

- Flagler's pitchers allowed two runs on 10 hits, while striking out three and walking two; Catawba's staff surrendered three runs on six hits, striking out five and walking one

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Christina Brendle homered in her first at-bat of the season and walked

- Molly Strider went 3-for-4 in game one

- Riley Tucker drove in a run on a single and stole a base

- Aniyah King also singled, stole a base and scored

- Alex Baquie took a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning, but allowed three runs in the seventh before recording an out, taking the hard-luck loss

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Brendle hit a solo homer to left-center in the top of the first

- The Catawba Indians loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to scratch across another run

SECOND INNING

- King, singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch

- Tucker drove in her in on a scorching single to center field

- Catawba once again loaded the bases, this time with two out, but Flagler escaped with just one run allowed in the frame

SEVENTH INNING

- Flagler singled and homered to start the seventh inning to tie the game

- Back-to-back singles from the Saints brought Tucker into the circle

- Tucker got back-to-back outs, but Flagler walked off on a single up the middle in the opening game of the season

GAME TWO | Barry 9, Catawba 3

TEAM STATS

- Each team recorded seven hits

- Barry homered twice and had a double; Catawba hit for two doubles

- The Catawba Indians recorded both errors in the game

- Barry left eight runners on base, while Catawba stranded nine

- The Bucs had three stolen bases to the Catawba Indians' two

- Barry's pitchers allowed three runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking five; Catawba's staff had eight earned runs on seven hits, five strikeouts and seven walks

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Tucker had a 3-for-3 game with a double, a walk and two runs scored

- Brendle hit an RBI double, walked and scored

- Kary Hales went 2-for-4 with an RBI

- Tucker took the loss in the circle, allowing five earned runs in three earned runs; Baquie allowed just one hit in four innings of relief

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- With the bases loaded and one out, Barry scored on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout to take an early 2-0 lead

SECOND INNING

- The Bucs scored on a passed ball and stole home to double their lead to 4-0 after two frames

THIRD INNING

- Barry took a 6-0 lead after Alexis Toledo's two-run homer

- Hales' RBI single scored Tucker before Bri Gallagher's sac fly cut the Catawba deficit to 6-2

FOURTH INNING

- BU scored two more in the fourth on Cassandra's Lee two-RBI single

FIFTH INNING

- Mac Stone-Folmar homered to lead off the fifth, as Barry took a 9-2 lead

SEVENTH INNING

- Brendle got the back run in the seventh, doubling to left-center to score Tucker

UP NEXT

- Catawba looks to avenge today's loss against the Bucs with a rematch against Barry at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow before battling Florida Tech at 6:30 p.m.