PHOTOS

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville softball team finally got to play in front of its home crowd against Asbury on Monday, putting on a show in the opener with an 11-4 win before falling 6-3 in the nightcap at Paul Butcher Field.

With the split, UPIKE moves to 4-6 on the season and the Eagles are now 5-3.

Lee Collier and Kitty Raymond both hit home runs and Kelsey White and Jordan Gentry both roped triples. Asbury outhit UPIKE a combined 21-18 on the day and errors were very different in each game. Asbury had three errors and UPIKE none in the opener before the Bears turned around with a 4-0 advantage in errors in game two.

UPIKE 11, Asbury 4

UPIKE fell behind 1-0 in the first inning on a sacrifice fly, but the deficit was short lived as it struck for five runs on four hits in the bottom of the frame. Kelsey White had the big hit, knocking in two runs with a double as the big first inning kept the Bears in front for the rest of the game.

Including a two-run blast by Faith Day, Asbury fought back with three runs in the second inning to make it a one-run game at 5-4. Consistent offense over the next few frames kept the Bears from surrendering their lead as they tallied one run in the second, three in the third and two more in the fourth to pull away.

Raymond got the string of scoring innings started with her solo shot to left field with two out in the second inning. Other RBI hits came from Emme Barker, Hannah Absher, Megan Claypoole, White, Collier and Jadyn Gibson.

Claypoole (2-3) also picked up the win in the circle after allowing four runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts in a complete seven innings. The game nearly ended early in the fifth when Claypoole hit a shallow fly ball to center with runners on first and second and a seven-run lead, but an improbable catch was made to force another two innings.

Bree Sanders (0-1) made her first start of the season for Asbury and took the loss after allowing nine runs on eight hits with two batters struck out in 2 2/3 innings.

Asbury 6, UPIKE 3

The Bears dug a 5-0 hole through the first two innings and never recovered as they committed four errors which never gave them a chance. In the first inning alone none of the runs would have scored without mistakes as the Eagles scored three on just two hits and two errors.

Again, in the second inning the Eagles added two more runs that wouldn't have scored without miscues. In a game that should've been scoreless, UPIKE got on the board with a single by Jordan Gentry in the second inning, but only added two more runs the rest of the way on Collier's two-run homer in the fourth with two outs.

Still, it was only a 5-3 Asbury lead heading into the top of the seventh and UPIKE was about to flip the lineup over to the top of the order. But the two-run gap turned into three when Bree Sanders drove in yet another unearned run on a single. Defeated by errors, the Bears' batters went down quickly in the bottom of the frame, except for Absher drawing a walk that she never moved past first base on.

Hannah Skaggs dropped to 2-3 in the circle with the loss as she allowed just one earned run on 11 hits in seven innings of work. Skaggs struck out six and didn't give up any walks.

Asbury's Paige Hill is now 3-1 with the win as she scattered seven hits for three runs with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Pikeville was outhit 11-7 in the loss as Gentry was the only player in the lineup with multiplenhits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI triple.

UP NEXT

UPIKE hosts Alice Lloyd at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Paul Butcher Field.

-UPIKE-