FLORENCE, SC – Senior left-hander Michaela Wolf scattered
12 hits and registered three hits of her own at the plate to help
lead third-seeded Francis Marion University past sixth-seeded UNC
Pembroke 5-3, Friday afternoon (April 16) in the opening round of
the Peach Belt Conference softball tournament.
The Patriots improve to 32-12 and move on to face seventh-seeded
USC Aiken on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. UNCP drops to 29-18
and falls into the losers' bracket where they will face
second-seeded Augusta State University, also at 6:30 p.m. on
Friday.
The win was also the 200th for sixth-year FMU head coach Stacey
Vallee. Her career mark now stands at 200-93.
Wolf upped her season pitching mark to 18-6, while earning her
school-record 88th career victory. She struck out three,
walked one, and hit three batters, but managed to strand 11 Brave
base runners.
At the plate, Wolf was 3-for-4 with a run scored and one driven
in. Right fielder Chelle Phillips was 2-for-4 with a run
scored and left fielder Jessica Birchmeier was 2-for-3 with two
runs scored.
Left fielder Courtney Hill was 3-for-3 to lead UNCP, while
Jelena Shaw, Morgan Patrick, and Randi Pruitt all had two hits.
Shaw, the 2010 PBC Player of the Year, homered to lead off the
game. FMU answered with two runs in the bottom of the second
on an RBI single by Meghan Heiser and UNCP throwing error.
The Braves tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the third only to
have FMU regain the advantage on an RBI hit by Wolf in the bottom
of the frame. A sacrifice fly by Shaw again tied the game
(3-3) in the top of the fourth.
Francis Marion took the lead for good with two runs in the
bottom of the fifth. Shortstop Jessica Hogan plated
Birchmeier with an RBI single to right center. With two outs
and runners on first and third, Destinea Schneider bunted, but the
throw to first from the catcher sailed into the runner for an error
allowing Hogan to score the fifth tally.
UNCP loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Wolf
induced a pop-foul out and a fly out to strand the three
runners. Wolf retired the Braves in order in the seventh.
head coach Stacey Vallee
