Box Score Game 1 Box Score Game 2
JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven softball team continued its perfect week with a sweep of Judson College (Ala.) at home on Wednesday. Belhaven's bats were hot from the start, winning 10-0 and 17-1 in two games versus the Eagles.
The Blazers have had quite the week.
On Tuesday they achieved their highest ranking in the NAIA Top 25 since their outstanding 2011 campaign, checking in at 17th in the country. Later in the day the Blazers completed a sweep of rival No. 21 Mobile, a team that has played very well in 2013.
Only 24 hours later Belhaven was celebrating one of the most impressive offensive performances in the history of the program. The Blazers racked up 27 runs in only eight batted innings, while holding the visiting Eagles to only one run in the second game.
Ten different Blazers recorded a hit on the afternoon and four different players hit balls over the fence.
Ginger Lonergan got her second start of the season and was sharp in four innings of work. She struck out two in the first inning and finished with seven strikeouts by the end of her time on the mound.
She only allowed one hit and gave up two walks to preserve the shutout for the Blazers.
Jordan Cole and
Shelby Watson led off the bottom of the first by getting on base due to the Eagles' starter's control issues. Cole was hit by a pitch and Watson earned a four pitch walk to set up runners on the corners for
Denee' Crawford.
Crawford has terrorized pitchers all season long with a quick-release swing, which is a major reason why she leads the team in RBI's and home runs. The third baseman added to her total with a three-run home run to give Belhaven a 3-0 without recording an out.
After a quiet two innings, Belhaven would strike again in the third.
Katy Adair singled on a sharp liner up the middle of the field before
Dominique Corona added a long-ball of her own to put the Blazers up five runs.
Crawford completed an impressive game at the plate with an RBI double in the fourth inning that plated Cole and pinch-hitter
Jessica Paris. Corona then doubled off the wall to score Crawford and put the game out of reach.
Belhaven would score twice more on RBI-hits by
Courtney Fairley and
Mandy Fuller to make it a 10-0 game.
Megan Timbs came in to pitch the top of the fifth in relief of Lonergan and struck out two of the four batters she faced to complete the shutout.
Not to be outdone by their game one performance, the Blazers dominated the flow of game two by putting 17 runs on the board in only four innings. They scored at least two runs in every inning they came up to bat, including a whopping 10 runs in the bottom of the third.
Watson and
Ashlee Hitt picked up the offensive pace in game two, combining for four hits and seven RBI's. Each player also had a home run, Watson's to center field and Hitt's to right.
Corona capped off a four-RBI day with an extra base hit in the second game.
Paris, the starting pitcher for the Blazers, improved to 7-0 on the year and surrendered only one run in the second inning. She struck out seven and gave up only three hits in three innings of work.
Watson and
Samantha Massoth each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
Paris helped her effort at the plate with two hits and 3 RBI's including a double down the left field line in the 10-run third inning.
Belhaven improves to 19-3 on the season and has a one-day layoff before a pivotal SSAC matchup with William Carey on Friday. The Lady Crusaders moved into the top 10 in the last Coaches' poll, slotted at ninth in the country with the Blazers eight spots behind them in 17th.