BREVARD, N.C. – The Converse College (6-28) softball team dropped a pair of games at Brevard on Wednesday afternoon. The Tornadoes took game one by the final of 5-2 before collecting an 11-2 win in the nightcap.
GAME ONE: CONVERSE 2, BREVARD 5
Brevard took an early lead after collecting a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. A sacrifice fly and double to left center accounted for the two scoring plays during the at-bat.
Timely hitting and heads-up base running accompanied the Valkyries in the top of the third as they were able to post two runs to knot the contest at 2-all. Moriah Gomez led the frame off with a line drive double to left center before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt from Gabrielle Cuevas.
Marissa Martin, as she does so well, laid down a beautiful bunt single, allowing Gomez to touch the plate. Martin then advanced to second as the Tornadoes forgot to cover the bag on the play. Hailey Spitler followed that with a sharp single through the right side that allowed Martin to score and tie the game.
However, Brevard came right back with two more runs in the bottom half of the third to regain the lead. Back-to-back triples to start the inning allowed one run to score, while an error by the Vals defense allowed another run to come across and double the Brevard lead (4-2).
Brevard added a single run in the bottom of the sixth to push its lead out to 5-2. The Valkyries went scoreless in the top of the seventh, dropping game one by that same score.
GAME TWO: CONVERSE 2, BREVARD 11(5 Innings)
Converse struck early in game two, posting one run in the top of the first to take the early lead. With one out, Spitler doubled to left center and advanced to third on a wild pitch. That set up Cuevas' RBI sacrifice bunt.
However, Brevard exploded for five runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the first to push ahead 5-1. Converse came back in the top of the second with a single run to trim the deficit to 5-2. Brooklyn McElrath singled through the left side with one out and advanced to second when Daija Irizarry was hit by a pitch. Both runners stole the next base before Gomez beat out an infield single, allowing McElrath to score.
Unfortunately, that would be last run Converse would score, while Brevard blew the game wide open with three runs in the next two innings, ballooning its lead to 11-2 after 3.0 innings. Converse was held scoreless over the final three innings, eventually dropping the contest by the same score in five innings.
Converse will return to the friendly confines of Tyger River Park on Thursday, March 28 as it plays hosts to the Pacers of USC-Aiken. Game one of that doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. inside The Stadium.