MURFREESBORO, N.C. – Backed by another solid pitching performance by junior Kayla Pepper and sophomore Kayson Boatner's red-hot bat, Anderson University softball swept nonconference opponent Chowan, winning game one, 16-0 (5 innings) while winning game two, 3-1, on Monday afternoon at Hawks Field.
With the wins, Anderson improves to 10-4 overall while the Hawks fall to 3-8 overall.
GAME 1 Anderson 16 Chowan 0 (5 innings)
Anderson exploded for 16 runs on 17 hits with nine different Trojans picking up at least one hit. Seniors Meghan Majeski and Mattie Hamilton each batted 3-for-3 with Hamilton hitting a grand-slam. Sophomore Kayson Boater went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a grand-slam and seven RBI.
The Trojans scored two runs in the top of the first inning, adding six runs in the second and third inning to hold a 14-0 lead. The Black and Gold tacked on two more in the top of the fifth to set the final score at 16-0.
AU's Pepper (4-2) pitched a complete game shutout for the second day in a row. Pepper gave up just one hit while striking out seven.
Chowan's Emarae Flores (1-4) suffered the loss after 1.1 innings of work. Flores gave up five hits and seven runs before being lifted in favor of S. Riley. The Black and Gold tagged Riley with seven hits and seven run in 1.1 inning with Carleigh Wildeboer pitching the remaining 2.1 innings. Wildeboer gave up five hits and five runs while striking out two.
GAME 2 Anderson 3 Chowan 1
AU's Boatner batted 2-for-4 with a solo homerun and a two-run homerun while junior Mattison Cantrell batted 2-for-4. Sophomore Gracie Williams contributed two hits in three at-bats for the Black and Gold.
Boatner's solo shot in the third inning held until the bottom of the sixth inning. The Hawks were able to push across the tying run two singles and a double. Majeski's lead-off single followed by Boatner's third home run of the day provided all the runs needed to pick up the win.
Junior Sarah Middleton pitched five innings giving up seven hits and one run before being lifted in favor of Pepper. Pepper pitched the final two inning and was the pitcher of record when the Trojans took the lead. Pepper earned her fifth victory of the season.
Chowan's Megan Vincent (3-3) gave up 10 hits and three earned runs in the loss.
"Great performance out of KAYLA Pepper and terrific run support from Mattie Hamilton's grand slam and Kayson Boatner's grand slam in game one", said head coach Tommy Hewitt. "Game two Boat supplied all 3 runs with an inside the park home run and a 2 run shot home run."
UP NEXT
Anderson returns home to begin South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday against the preseason No. 1 ranked Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. First pitch is slated for 2 pm.
