Thursday, March 27, 2003

ROCK HILL, S.C. (Mar. 27, 2003) - Winthrop needed extra innings in both games to put away East Tennessee State in a softball double-header Thursday at Terry Field.      Janiva Willis drove in Katie Kipisz in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the first game 4-3, while Danna Haydar scored the winning run off a wild pitch to give Winthrop a 6-5 win in game two. In the first game, Katie Agee and Kelli Johnson each had an RBI to give Winthrop a 2-0 lead by the bottom of the second. ETSU's Miranda Byerly (Candler, N.C.) hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to tie the score. Mary Beth Hazelwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) drove in Sheryl Clark (Bradenton, Fla.) to give ETSU a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning, but the Lady Eagles tied the score when Stephanie Turney hit a double to drive in Carol Douglas. Johnson struck out 10 ETSU batters and only walked one. The second game started off similarly, as Winthrop had a 2-0 lead in the second inning, only to have ETSU tie the score in the top of the fifth. However, the Lady Eagles responded by scoring one run in fifth and two runs in the sixth, giving them a 5-2 lead going into the final inning. Shahna Ashard, who had previously only given up two runs off three hits, gave up three runs off five hits in the seventh inning alone. Johnson came in relief and held it together, keeping the score tied at five. After a wild pitch by Johnson in the top of the eight, ETSU had a runner on third with no outs. Johnson proceeded to strike out the next two batters, and got Byerly to ground out to end the inning. The Buccaneers fall to 13-12 for season, and will be back home to take on UNC Greensboro for a three-game weekend series beginning Mar. 29. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game starting at 1 p.m.