NAPLES, Fla. – The Wilmington College softball team earned a pair of victories Monday – 13-0 over Anna Maria College in five innings and 9-3 over Alfred State University – on day two of its annual spring trip.
In game one, the Fightin’ Quakers scored in every inning. Hayley Suchland led off the scoring with a two-run blast over the left field fence scoring Megan Crager. Those two would also provide RBI-hits in the second as Crager singled home Kaylee Hauck and Suchland singled home Crager for the second time.
Anna Marie’s only threat to score in the bottom of the second, but after two singles, starting pitcher Grace Shell induced a fly out and followed that with consecutive strikeouts.
Leading 4-0, Wilmington blew the game wide open in the third, batting around and plating four runs on five hits. One inning later, Wilmington High School graduate Je’Taysia Johns launched her first career home run, a three-run blast to right field. Another Suchland RBI-hit and a KenDahl Bowles double to left center scored the Quakers’ final two runs.
Shell earned her second victory of the season, striking out eight batters and scattering two hits in four innings. Hannah Hall came in to pitch a perfect fifth inning with one strikeout.
The Quakers finished with 15 hits as a team while Anna Maria had two. Suchland finished 3-for-3 with five RBIs including the home run and a double. Bowles finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Both Crager and Bailey Smith also had multi-hit games.
In game two, Crager again got things started by drawing a walk and stealing a base in the top of the first inning. After a passed ball, Brooke Durbin grounded out to first base scoring Crager.
Alfred State tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the second, but just like the first game, Wilmington’s third inning proved to be the difference. In total, the Quakers sent a dozen to the plate, tallied four hits and used three Pioneer errors to score seven runs. Trailing 9-1, Alfred State added a single run in both the fifth and sixth innings, but could get no closer.
Suchland earned the complete-game victory striking out five while allowing six hits and two earned runs.
Eight Quakers had one hit each while the team stolen five total bases – two from Crager and one each from Taylor Wells, Kennedy Clifton and Alecia Kemp.
