Miles goes extras to earn sweep of Stillman
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Miles twice jumped out to big leads on Stillman Sunday afternoon but needed some extra innings help to finish off a sweep of the Tigers. The Golden Bears (13-26, 12-2 SIAC West) took the opener 7-2 before grabbing a 4-3 win in eight innings during the nightcap. Kendruena McPhereson went 5-for-8 during the two games, scoring three times - including the winning run in Game Two - and earning the win from the circle in relief.
Game 1: Miles 7, Stillman 2
McPhereson went 4-for-4, scored twice and knocked in a run as Miles grabbed a big lead and rode the pitching of
Talana Brown to victory.
Jordan Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first to put Miles on the board, but it was the second inning where the Golden Bears broke the game open. McPhereson's RBI triple scored Brown and she came home on a throwing error to increase the lead to 3-0. That advantage increased to 4-0 when
Victoria McDaniel scored on a passed ball.
A sacrifice fly by
Ashlee Alexander pushed the Miles lead to 5-0 in the top of the third before Brown ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the frame. Stillman tacked on two runs and loaded the bases in the fourth but was unable to score, eliminating the last real threat from the Tigers. Brown scattered six hits (five singles) and allowed just one earned run in gaining the complete-game victory.
Miles would add unearned runs in the sixth and seventh inning to pad the final margin. McDaniel and
Jamellya Ducker each had two hits for the Golden Bears.
Game 2: Miles 4, Stillman 3 (eight innings)
The second game started much like the first as Miles jumped out to an early lead. Jones sandwiched RBI in the first and fourth innings around an Alexander RBI in the second to post the Golden Bears to a 3-0 advantage halfway through the contest. But trouble came in the fifth as the lead quickly evaporated.
Starter Kayla Kennedy was rolling along but could not stop the bleeding in the fifth. The first six hitters reached base before she was replaced aby Aishawrya Smith and a
sacrifice fly tied the game at 3 before Smith was able to get the Golden Bears back to the dugout.
Miles' bats had gone cold, entering the eighth inning without a base runner in 12 consecutive plate appearances. It looked like more of the same when the first two hitters were retired before McPhereson singled to left against Mickenzie Sparks. McPhereson then stole second and third base, scoring when the throw to third got away. McPhereson, who took over in the circle in the sixth, navigated a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning to close out the victory and secure the sweep.
UP NEXT
The two teams will close out the 3-game series with a single game on Apr. 6. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Â
