Danielle Davis raced home from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to score the winning run in the second game as the Motlow Lady Bucks swept the visiting Cleveland State Lady Cougars 7-2, 2-1 Wednesday afternoon at the softball complex in Moore County.
Although both teams are members of the TCCAA conference, the games do not count in the conference standings. The Lady Bucks (7-8, 0-0) will open conference play this weekend when they travel to Columbia State on Friday and Jackson State on Saturday.
Pitching dominated the warm, sunny afternoon where a large, vocal crowd gathered to enjoy the competition. They were not disappointed as the Lady Bucks continued their improvement under new head coach Tori Raby-Gentry.
Game one saw Motlow hurler Roxanne Hillman improve her record to 4-1 on the season as she scattered six hits and allowed only one earned run to lower her season earned run average to 2.43. Hillman struck out three Cleveland batters and didn’t allow a base on balls.
Game two didn’t feature much offense, but was highlighted by Kayla Green’s outstanding pitching performance and the dramatic finish.
Green (3-7) went the full eight innings, scattering only five hits and not allowing a single earned run. She struck out three and walked three, and lowered her season earned run average to 3.21.
Following the conference doubleheaders at Columbia State and Jackson State this weekend, the Lady Bucks will return to Moore County to host national-power Wallace State on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.