Johnson City, TN – A pair of late offensive bursts powered Wofford softball to, first, a 1-0 win over ETSU in game one of the series and later a 6-0 extra-innings win in game two… Clinching not only the series win over the Buccaneers but also the club's first ever doubleheader sweep.
Game One
Starting pitcher
Margaret Axelson won her third straight decision in dominant fashion, holding ETSU to just four hits and six total base runners. Of those six base runners, only two were able to advance past second base- and both times ETSU did get a runner to third, the next batter ended the inning (grounded out to second base in the third and grounded into a double play in the fourth).
Axelson has watched her ERA drop immensely in the month of April, beginning the month with a 3.02 ERA and now currently holds a 2.05 ERA (which overtook Chattanooga's Taylor Long for the best in the conference). The performance also earned her the second complete game shutout of her Wofford career, with the first coming all the way back on February 9 against Robert Morris (the program's first ever win).
For Axelson to garner the win, however, Wofford needed to find some offense and did so off the bat of
Hope Ingle.
Entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the final frame, Ingle found her pitch on a 3-2 count and took the ball over the wall in left center field to tally the decisive blow. The junior is now tied for the team lead in the category with
Kaytlin Greenwood, yet leads the team in both doubles, RBIs, total bases, and walks.
As a team, Wofford's game one win over ETSU is the program's first series opening win in the Southern Conference.
Game Two
Both teams had dueling shutouts going at the end of regulation, but it was Wofford that exploded for six runs and six hits in the extra frame to claim the victory.
Wofford first manufactured the bases loaded with consecutive singles from
Cadan Brinkman and
Hope Ingle before
Hannah Maddox worked a walk.
Kalli Petty then became the fourth consecutive Terrier to reach base and scoring Brinkman from third in the process.
Lenzen continued the process with a single to center, which ended up clearing the bases as ETSU committed its fifth error of the contest attempting to field Lenzen's hit. Wofford would however load the bases for a second time in the inning- using hits from
Desirae Devine and
Kaytlin Greenwood (an RBI single) and a walk from
Abbi Campbell. However, this go around Wofford could only plate one additional run via a walk by Brinkman.
In response, the Buccaneers could only manage two strikeouts and a line out to end the game.
Struggles at the plate typified ETSU's game two experience, largely due to the efforts of
Abby Greenwood in the circle. The freshman out of King George, Virginia, limited ETSU to its fewest hits in a game since March 29 at Chattanooga and its fewest hits at home since February 27 at Appalachian State. As for Greenwood herself, she spun her first collegiate shutout, a new career high strikeout (eight), and new career high innings pitched (eight).
Up Next
The Terriers have one last game against ETSU, also the team's final road game of the regular season, before returning home for the final mid-week/non-conference game of the regular season against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, May 1, and then concluding SoCon play that weekend, May 4-5, against UNCG. All four games are currently slated to be streamed on ESPN+.
