PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville softball team has won 10 straight games for the first time in recorded program history after taking care of business against Bluefield (Va.) with a pair of 7-1 and 11-10 wins on Monday at Paul Butcher Field.
The Bears now stand at 14-6 overall while Bluefield drops to 4-7. UPIKE will look to keep the hot streak going this weekend when it opens Mid-South Conference play at Campbellsville with doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. ET.
GAME ONE – UPIKE 7, Bluefield 1
Jordan Gentry went 3-for-4 and drove in a trio of runs to help the Bears past the Rams in the opener 7-1. UPIKE outhit Bluefield 12-6 and played error free to win comfortably.
Kitty Raymond drove in a run with a double and Kelsey White and Haley Osborne had two hits each to back up Gentry at the dish.
Megan Claypoole scattered six hits for one run with 10 strikeouts and four walks. She bested Cameron Pearson who dropped to 1-3 after allowing six earned runs on 12 hits.
Raymond's double in the first inning put the Bears up 1-0, but a leadoff home run by Mary Blake Avery in the third tied things up.
A four-run fourth inning is what put UPIKE in front for good as it scored a run on Osborne's single, two on a hit by Gentry and the last run on a fielder's choice hit by Gentry. Bluefield failed to respond to the big frame as the Bears added two more insurance runs in the sixth to put things away.
Gabrielle Melick and Avery paced the Rams at the plate with two hits each.
GAME TWO – UPIKE 11, Bluefield 10
UPIKE didn't waste any time in pursuit of a sweep as it tallied six runs through the first two frames, including five across the board in the second, but Bluefield didn't surrender, using seven UPIKE errors and timely hitting to tie things up at 10-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Kelsey White only needed to see one pitch though to grab the sweep as she said goodnight with a crushed home run to center. It was an exciting finish to a game that could have ended by run rule at 8-0 in the top of the fifth before the Rams put their first six runs on the scoreboard.
In the big second inning, the Bears got RBIs from Hannah Absher, Lee Collier and Chandler Kelly.
After a scoreless third, UPIKE tacked on two runs in the fourth to get to the necessary eight-run lead to end the game early. Raymond brought in the first of those with a double, followed by Chandler Kelly ripping a single to center deep enough to score Ashley Goines who was running for the catcher at second.
Bluefield, however, wasn't interested in giving up as it extended the game with the six runs in the top of the fifth. Mistakes didn't help the Bears as they issued a walk to the leadoff batter, then threw the ball away on the ensuing single to put runners on third and second with no outs.
A wild pitch and double started the Rams on a path to scoring the six runs and making it just a two-run game at 8-6 heading into the bottom of the fifth. When it was all said and done, Bluefield had done the scoring on five hits and three errors in the frame.
Claypoole, the game-one starter, had to enter in relief for the Bears as she threw a pair of strikeouts to finally end the threat.
Bluefield wasn't done either as Cameron Pearson crushed a one-out home run to center in the top of the sixth to make it a one-run game.
Needing to add some insurance, UPIKE got just what the doctor ordered in the bottom of the sixth as Raymond hit an RBI double and Kelly added an RBI single to make it 10-7 before a 6-4-3 double play ended the frame.
Now three outs away for the second time in the game, the Bears couldn't put the game away again as Bluefield scored three tying runs on three errors and no hits. But just when it looked like errors would spoil the Bears from logging a 10th straight win, White's bat made contact and a wild and eventful game ended in their favor.
Claypoole moved to 7-3 on the season with her second win of the day after allowing just one earned run in 2 2/3 innings with three more strikeouts in relief of Hannah Skaggs. Skaggs had struck out six, but had also given up eight hits, leading to four runs scoring in the first 4 1/3 innings.
Kelly led the Bears at the plate, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs, while Raymond backed her up with three hits and two runs knocked in.
-UPIKE-
