Lady Bears win series vs. Lane
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 |
Box Score 3
Miles honored its six seniors this weekend, all of whom played their final home games as the Lady Golden Bears hosted Lane. All of them had a hand in the team taking 2-of-3 from the Dragons, strengthening its chance for the Western Division's No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
Grayson Culverson and Kendruena McPherson both picked up wins and combined for 32 strikeouts while
Victoria McDaniel and
Davis Watkins each had three hits during the series.
GAME 1: Miles 6, Lane 0
Culverson (3-2) was the star in this one, scattering six singles while striking out a career-high 13 in the shutout victory. Seniors Aishawrya Smith and
Ashlee Alexander, as well as sophomore
Jordan Jones, each had two hits and scored a run for Miles. McPherson had a run-scoring groundout in the second and a RBI triple in the fifth, then scored on a Watkins single against Lane starter Brittany McElvain.
GAME 2: Miles 5, Lane 4
The Lady Bears were in control of this one until a wild seventh inning that saw Miles win in walkoff fashion.
The score was tied at 1 in the fourth when Watkins launched a solo blast to left - her second of the season - to put Miles back on top. Senior Kathryne Lambert would bring in McDaniel in the fifth with a single and the Lady Bears entered the seventh with a 3-1 advantage.
McPherson (3-5) had allowed just two hits entering the final inning and finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts. But Lane would score three times thanks to three Miles errors to grab a 4-3 lead and the Lady Golden Bears had just three outs remaining. But senior
Jasmine Langston started the rally against Dragons pitcher Mice'la Ross with a double. She advanced to third on a single by Zakierra Webb, who then stole second. McDaniel would single to score Langston to tie the game and a miscue at first base allowed McPherson to reach to load the bases with no one out.
Lambert would fly out to right field on a ball that was not deep enough for Webb to tag and score. But an errant throw into the plate allowed Webb to motor home and give the Lady Bears the come-from-behind win.
GAME 3: Lane 5, Miles 1
The errors that almost cost Miles in Game 2 put it in an early hole in the series finale. Thanks to two fielding miscues, the Dragons scored twice to in the first inning to take the lead.Â
Miles struggled offensively against Lane's Ericka Webster, scratching out just six hits. But Culverson kept the team in the game as she threw up zeros for the next five innings in hopes of the Lady Bears being able to rally. The big chance came in the sixth when Jones singled to left to score Lambert to halve the deficit. Smith was standing on third with two outs when she broke for the plate as Lane catcher Chloe Roberts attempted a pickoff play at first base. But the return throw was on time to get Smith to thwart a chance at a tie.
Roberts would then put an exclamation point on her day with a three-run home run in the seventh for the final margin. Culverson (3-3) grinded through her complete-game effort, allowing 11 hits and two walks but striking out nine.
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