RGINIA BEACH -- A sweep on Friday and a split on Saturday ended up as a 3-1 showing for the Virginia Wesleyan College softball Marlins in the annual Beach Blast tournament.
Playing at Princess Anne Park, a "home away from home" for VWC, the Marlins knocked off Maryland's Hood College 13-4, tripped New York's Old Westbury College 4-1, fell 7-3 to Maryland's Frostburg State University, and finished with a 21-0 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington.
Virginia Wesleyan (5-1) connected for 47 hits in the four games, and limited opponents to just 17. Marlin pitchers Chrissy Crawford (Norfolk, Va./Granby) and Ashley Probasco (Plymouth, Mass./North)combined to throw a one-hitter against Farmington (0-4). Lily Barry (Hermong, Maine/Hermon) belted a single in the first inning for the Maine team, which could not find another hit the rest of the way.
The Marlins backed the pitching effort with a stunning 26-hit offense, sparked by a pair of doubles from junior Jaclyn Quinn (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) and one each from rookies Paige Pritchett (Gordonsville, Va./Orange County), Andrea Shannon (Newville, Pa./Big Spring), Kelly Keys (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park), and Abby Jamgochian (Leesburg, Va./Heritage).
Seventeen Marlins recorded at least one hit in the five-inning game, led by junior Heather Bishop (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes) and Keys with three each.
Through the four-game tournament, junior Brenae Pettit (Onancock, Va./Nandua) emerged with the most consistent bat for the Marlins. She hit at a .750 clip, 6-for-8, driving in four runs in the process. She also scored four runs.
Rookie Tori Higginbotham (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) also connected for six hits for the Marlins in 10 at bats. Her totals included her first intercollegiate home run, swatted against Hood, a three-run strike in the third inning. Higginbotham accounted for five RBI in the four games and scored five runs.
Virginia Wesleyan's only lack of offense in the tournament came against Frostburg State (2-4), when the Marlins produced just four singles. Despite the lack of hits, VWC managed to produce a 3-3 tie through four innings, before FSU tacked up two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to pull away.
Rookie MacKenzie Creech (Hillsborough, N.C./Orange),who posted the pitching win against Hood, took the loss against FSU. She struck out four batters, walked two, but gave up 10 hits and three earned runs. Creech posted two strikeouts against Hood and allowed just one walk and two hits overall.
Higginbotham hit 3-for-3 against Hood, Pettit was 2-for-2 against Old Westbury, and Keys was 3-for-3 against Farmington-Maine.
The only hitter to record multiple hits against VWC was Frostburg State's Brooke Tapman (Pocomoke, Md./Pocomoke). She was 3-for-4, with a double, home run and five RBI.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Monday, Mar. 7, hosting Emory & Henry College in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. The Wasps opened their season in the Beach Blast event and produced a 3-1 record.
--AMDG--
