College Softball Finals – Guilford 13-10, Southern Virginia 5-2

BUENA VISTA, Va. – Makayla Carver totaled six hits and Makayla Crawford added five in Guilford College’s nonconference softball doubleheader sweep of Southern Virginia University Wednesday. The Quakers moved to 8-3 with a 13-5, eight-inning win, followed by a 10-2, five-inning triumph. The Knights fell to 2-8.

Guilford battled back from a 4-1, first-inning deficit in the opener. The Knights took advantage of poor Quakers’ fielding and scored three unearned runs in their first at-bat. Mykayla Johnson’s RBI double in the third gave Southern Virginia a 5-3 lead before Guilford evened the score on Carver’s two-run double in the fifth.

Guilford sent 11 batters to the plate in the decisive eight-run eighth inning. Makayla Crawford scored the go-ahead run on a Knights’ error and capped the frame with a three-run homer, her fifth of the season.

Winning pitcher Courtney Lackey (4-2) threw five scoreless innings of relief and also plated a run in the eighth inning. Carver had four hits and three RBI. Crawford finished with three hits and four RBI. Sabrina Moreno also had three hits.

Tara Hilton’s three hits and Gabbert’s two RBI paced Southern Virginia’s offense. Megan Harmon threw all eight innings and fell to 1-5.

Southern Virginia tallied twice in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead that stood until the third inning when Guilford got on the board with an unearned run. Carver smacked a three-run homer in the Quakers’ fourth that put Guilford ahead for good. Starting pitcher Katie McNeill (1-0) added a solo homer and Anna Wolfe delivered a two-run shot in the Quakers’ six-run fifth inning.

McNeill scattered six hits and walked only one for her first college win. Carver, Crawford, McNeill, and Darby Kozan each had two hits apiece. Carver had four RBI and one of her three stolen bases on the day.

Jordan Stites had a hit and Southern Virginia’s lone RBI in the nightcap. Melanie Peyton threw five innings, but received little defensive support as seven Knights’ errors led to five unearned runs.

Coach Dennis Shores Quakers visit Averett University Friday in a nonconference doubleheader rescheduled from February 10.