Wesleyan softball picks up two wins at VWC Tournament

Virginia Beach, VA - North Carolina Wesleyan's softball team opened up its 2009 season on Friday and Saturday at Virginia Wesleyan's annual Beach Blast Tournament. The Battling Bishops went 2-2 on the weekend, earning 3-0 and 4-3 victories over Frostburg State and Polytechnic (NY) on Friday before dropping
2-1 and 4-2 decisions to Roanoke and Randolph-Macon on Saturday. Freshman pitchers Ashley Driver and Brooke Davis split both the wins and losses.

On Friday versus FSU, Driver tossed a complete-game shutout in her first collegiate start, scattering just five hits and striking out five over seven innings.  Freshman Meredith Mills drove in all three Bishop runs by going 2-for-3 at the plate.  Kate Braun and Carla Pridgen also had a double apiece.

Against Polytechnic, Davis earned the 4-3 win in relief with Driver recording the save. Offensively, freshman Dani Abbey went 2-for-3 and tallied the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the sixth.  Mills was 1-for-3 with another run batted in, while Braun and Jena McFadden turned in doubles.

On Saturday versus Roanoke, Davis suffered the tough 2-1 loss in an eight-inning pitcher's dual. Mills drove in Wesleyan's lone run, and sophomore Jessica Poindexter added a double.  Roanoke scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch with two outs.

Finally, the tourney's final game saw the Bishops drop a 4-2 contest to RMC.  Despite leading for most of the game, Wesleyan watched as the Yellow Jackets turned in a four-run sixth inning to steal the victory.

Driver took the complete-game loss, giving up two homeruns in the decisive inning.  Abbey and senior Whitney Moshier recorded two hits each with Moshier and fellow senior Payton Gordon driving in NCWC's two runs.

Wesleyan returns to action next week in Myrtle Beach, SC. The Bishops will participate in a three-day tournament from Tuesday to Thursday, playing games at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. each day.

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