RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 15) – Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) exploded for eight runs in the final two innings to upend St. Andrews University 11-6 in the second game of a softball doubleheader at Lions Park on Thursday. With the victory, the Lady Falcons gained a split with the Knights after dropping the first game 6-3 in the season opener.
Trailing 4-3 in the fifth inning, the Lady Falcons came alive offensively as five of the first six batters garnered hits to push them ahead 7-4. The Lady Falcons opened the bottom half of the fifth with a double from Jasmine Rios (Sr./Greensboro, NC), an RBI double from Marley Parker (Sr./Langley, British Columbia) and an RBI single MaKayla August (So./Palm Springs, CA). Two batters later, Haili Pettifer (Sr./Langley, British Columbia) smacked a one-run single and Akera McPhaul (Sr./Greensboro, NC) blasted an RBI triple for a three-run lead.
The Lady Falcons (1-1 overall) continued the onslaught in the sixth inning with hits from the first five batters. Tamiera Sanchez (So./Sacramento, CA) opened the bottom half of the inning with a double followed Rios’ double which scored Sanchez. Parker then cracked a triple which scored Rios for a 9-4 lead.
The Lady Falcons were not through, yet. August singled in Parker and Sessoms followed with a single to put runners on first and second base with no outs. The bases were loaded when the Knights walked Pettifer, which set up one more run with an RBI single by Mechelle Moss (Fr./Nassau, Bahamas).
August was the winning pitcher for the Lady Falcons. She threw the entire seven innings, striking out five with one walk and allowing three earned runs.
The foursome of Parker, August, McPhaul and Moss drove in two runs apiece and the quartet of Rios, Parker, Sessoms and Pettifer each scored twice. Moss was 3-for-4 with a double and Rios was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Parker was 2-for-4 with a double and triple and Sanchez was 2-for-4 with a double and sacrifice fly. McPhaul was 2-for-4 with a triple for the Lady Falcons, who tallied 11 of their 15 hits in the fifth and sixth innings combined.
Lexi Dawson paced the Knights (3-5 overall) with three RBIs and Nikki Santiago was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
The second game was quite a contrast from the first game with the Lady Falcons scoring fewer runs. The score was tied 1-1 until the sixth inning when the Knights crossed the plate four times for a 5-1 lead. The Lady Falcons chipped away at the deficit in the bottom half of the sixth with two runs on Sessoms’ double and an infield error, but the Knights tacked on an additional run in the seventh inning for the final score.
— Office of Sports Information