PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- With the help of six St. Catharine errors and a solid performance from Hawley Ill in the circle, the University of Pikeville softball team secured a second straight split with the Patriots on Sunday at Paul Butcher Field.
St. Catharine outhit UPIKE 10-3 to win game one 4-2, while the Bears held the Patriots scoreless for six innings to win 6-1 in the nightcap.
The split keeps the Bears (15-15, 7-11 MSC) in a tie for fourth place in the Mid-South Conference standings with Cumberland (Tenn.) as a four-game series with the Bulldogs looms on April 17-18 in Lebanon, Tenn. St. Catharine (11-21, 5-11 MSC) is tied for sixth place in a very tight conference finish.
Centerfielder Brandi Jo Howard came up big in the win with two runs scored on two hits, including a triple, while Ill (5-4) threw all seven innings, allowing three hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks.
Tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the third, the Bears broke things open with three runs, including two drove in on a double by shortstop Hollie Hinkle.
The game was tied 1-1 through six innings in game one before the Patriots struck for three runs in the top of the seventh. UPIKE got one run back when Mackenzie Summers stole home during a rundown between first and second with Whitney Back, but Haley Jo Patton was stranded on third after a strikeout to end the game.
Krystal Cammuse (5-9) picked up the win in the opener after scattering three hits for two runs with six strikeouts and two talks in seven innings.
UPIKE returns to action at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
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