Chowan Athletics
Evann Carpenter, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications
MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Softball team went 0-1-1 against UVA-Wise at home on Wednesday afternoon as Megan Vincent pitched the Hawks to a tie before being called due to darkness in non-conference action.
Megan Vincent tossed a complete game striking out a career-high 15 batters moving her into a tie for third most in a single-game. Vincent allowed one unearned run in the tie.
Meredith Morgan paced the Hawks with four hits posting two doubles on the afternoon including three in the nightcap.
Jesse Gentry tallied two hits with a double and a RBI. Paige Wilhelm tallied a RBI, while Kaitlin Brunelli notched the first home run of her collegiate career and tallied two RBI.
Game One: Chowan 3, UVA-Wise 15
UVA-Wise would take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on two Hawk miscues. Chowan would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to even the score. Paige Wilhelm led off the inning with a walk and swiped second. Jesse Gentry doubled to center to plate Wilhelm. Haleigh Reid singled to left to put runners on the corners before Kaitlin Brunelli posted a RBI ground out to knot the contest at two.
The Cavaliers pushed across two more runs in the top of the second inning on four walks and an error to lead 4-2. UVA-Wise extended their lead to 6-2 on another Hawk miscue in the third and a solo home run in the fourth.
Meredith Morgan sparked a rally in the bottom of the fourth inning with a one-out single. Hannah Naifeh singled to right before a walk by Hannah Eden loaded the bases. Chowan was able to push across a run on a two-out base hit up the middle by Paige Wilhelm to close the gap to 6-3.
UVA-Wise scored two runs in the fifth and seven runs in the seventh to take game one 15-3.
Game Two: Chowan 1, UVA-Wise 1
Megan Vincent was dealing to start the contest striking eight of the first 10 batters allowing one hit.
The Hawks looked to plate a run in the bottom of the first inning as Meredith Morgan doubled to left field to start the inning. Delaney Devor used a sacrifice bunt to move Morgan to third. A pop up and a ground out ended the threat.
Meredith Morgan picked up a single and Delaney Devor drew a walk with two-outs in the third but was unable to scratch across a run.
The Cavaliers threatened in the fourth inning as a walk and a double put two runners in scoring position. Megan Vincent picked up a pop up and a strikeout to end the inning and keep the contest scoreless.
Kaitlin Brunelli won the battle in the bottom of the fourth inning after fighting off four two-strike pitches to launch a home run to left field to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
UVA-Wise threatened again in the fifth with two runners in scoring position, but Megan Vincent posted back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, UVA-Wise picked up two hits with one out to spark a rally. A base hit to right field drew a play at the plate with the throw. The initial call had Serena Riley’s throw being successful to keep the Cavs off the board, but was then changed to obstruction allowing the tying run to score. Megan Vincent posted two more punchouts to keep the score even.
In the bottom of the inning, Hannah Eden doubled to center with two outs. Paige Wilhelm drew a pinch-hit walk but the Hawks were unable to walk-off before darkness was called.
UP NEXT
Chowan will travel to South Carolina for a weekend series against Limestone and Anderson on Saturday and Sunday.