TIOGA, La - The Belhaven University Softball team finished the 2021 regular season with a doubleheader sweep of American Southwest Conference opponent Louisiana College on Saturday, May 1. The Blazers took game one from the Wildcats, 5-4, in nine innings, while game two went to the Blazers by a final of 10-1.

"I am so proud of our girls," stated Belhaven Softball Head Coach Kevin Griffin. "We battled through a lot this year. We did not have any issues with COVID during the season and our players did a great job staying in our team bubble and avoided cancellations."

GAME ONE

The Blazers jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the top of the first as Marlee Blackwell started the inning reaching base due to an error and advanced to second as Elizabeth Taggard drew a walk. Blackwell was then forced out as Allie Gordon reached on a fielder's choice as Taggard then scored on a single by Kennedy Carruth. Gordon later scored as Anna McNeer reached on a fielder's choice, while Carruth scored as McNeer was caught stealing to give the Blazers a 3-0 lead.

The Wildcats plated solo runs in the first, second, and fifth innings while holding the Blazers scoreless to tie the game at 3-3. The Blazers then regained the lead with a solo run in the top of the seventh as Bailey Root scored on a walk drawn by Elizabeth Taggard to give the Blazers a 4-3 lead; however, the Wildcats once again tied the game with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh sending the game into extra innings.

The Blazers once again gained the lead with a solo run in the ninth inning as Bailey Root drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abby Trahan. Root then later scored as Kennedy Carruth drew a walk to give the Blazers a 5-4 lead while a three-up-and-three-down bottom of the ninth sealed the win for the Blazers.

Bailey Root got the start for the Blazers and improved to 7-4 overall on the season. In the complete game effort, Root allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts. The Blazers totaled five hits as Marlee Blackwell, Allie Gordon, Kennedy Carruth, Cade Bass, and Haley Hanson had one hit each while Carruth led the team with two RBI along with Taggard and McNeer collecting one RBI each.

GAME TWO

The Blazers wasted no time in jumping out to a big lead in the second game as they plated six runs in the top of the first started with a lead-off walk drawn by Marlee Blackwell. Elizabeth Taggard followed with a single, while Allie Gordon took one swing of the bat and deposited a three-run homer over the left field fence, her sixth of the season, to give the Blazers a 3-0 lead. Cade Bass and Haley Hanson hit back-to-back two-out singles leading to Alayna Adams smashing a three-run home run over the left field fence, her first of the season, and doubling the Blazers lead to 6-0.

The Blazers plated a pair of runs in the second inning as Marlee Blackwell and Elizabeth Taggard drew back-to-back walks to start the inning, but Taggard was forced out as Allie Gordon reached on a fielder's choice. Blackwell then scored on a sacrifice fly by Kennedy Carruth, while Gordon later scored on a single by Cade Bass giving the Blazers an 8-0 lead. The Blazers plated a single run in the third inning as Alayna Adams reached base on an error and then scored on a double by Abby Trahan increasing the Blazers lead to 9-0. Dallas Blaker smashed a two-out solo home run, her first of the season, over the left field fence in the fourth inning to give the Blazers a 10-0 lead.

The Wildcats lone run came in the bottom of the fifth inning on a one-out solo home run, but the Blazers slammed the door on the Wildcats and secured the 10-1 win along with the series sweep.

Kennedy Carruth got the start for the Blazers and improved to 20-2 overall with the win. Carruth pitched four scoreless innings allowing just three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. Jovi Jones pitched one inning of relief allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout.

The Blazers totaled ten hits during the contest as Cade Bass and Haley Hanson led the way with two hits each, while Carley Ingle, Elizabeth Taggard, Allie Gordon, Dallas Blaker, Alayna Adams, and Abby Trahan had one hit apiece. Gordon and Adams led the team with three RBIs each, while Carruth, Bass, Blaker, and Trahan had one RBI apiece.

The Blazers finish the 2021 regular season with an overall record of 30-8 and 22-5 in ASC play. The Blazers are also Co-East Division Champions and will host the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament from May 6-8.

"Finishing the year as the regular season conference champions is a great accomplishment," stated Griffin. "We waited through several years of transition from NAIA to NCAA and to be able to win this league in our first year of eligibility is pretty amazing. It is a goal that we have had since August and it is neat to see it happen to a great group of girls."

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