CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Just 24 hours after sweeping Barton, the Queens Royals split a Sunday series with Mount Olive. Queens (16-15/8-6) came from behind to win the opening contest 8-4, but fell 11-3 after Mount Olive (17-22/5-5) mounted a comeback for the win.
The split keeps Queens in fourth place in the Conference Carolina standings with just four games to go. The Royals will host second place Limestone in their last home games of the season on April 12 at 5pm.
Alisha Waldrop (McDonough, Ga., Luella ) had another strong performance after notching five RBI on three hits against Barton. Against the Trojans she had another five RBI on three hits. On the season she has 17 RBI, good for second best on the team and she hit two doubles on the weekend giving her a team-best six. For the series she hit 3-4 with one double.
Game 1
Queens 8
MOC 4
The Royals capitalized on Mount Olive's Sarah Saunders rough start in the circle. Queens posted two runs in the opening inning without connecting for a hit.
The Trojans posted four unanswered runs in through the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Queens loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the sixth, but had to settle for only a single run after a force out, a strikeout and a flyout. The Royals trailed by just one heading into the final inning.
After leadoff batter
Maria Goode (Charlotte, N.C., Providence) was retired,
Kaitlyn Cheek (Richmond, Va,, JR Tucker ) and
Megan Lathbury (Georgetown, Del., Sussex Central) followed with back-to-back doubles. After a walk loaded the bases, Waldrop's two-run double put Queens back on top 5-4.
Emma Schultz (Silver Spring, Md., Paint Branch) drove in a run on an infield single and
Emily Poulton (Temecula, Calif., Great Oak) followed with a two-run single off Ana Cooke, who entered the game in relief.
Brandy Jester (Georgetown, Del., Sussex Central) retired the side in order to earn the win.
Game 2
Queens 3
MOC 11
Five innings
Queens jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on Lathbury's sacrifice fly and Waldrop's two-out two-run single.
Mount Olive used two big innings to run-rule the Royals for the 11-3 win. In the second, Aubrey Reinhard led off with her 12
th double of the season and the Trojans followed up with two singles to load the bases. A walk by
Chantel Dodge (Shalimar, Fla., Choctawhatchee) posted the host's first run of the game and an infield single added another. Mount Olive used three more hits to score four more runs before Dodge got out of the inning.
A two-run homer by Kelly Minshew drove in the final two runs of a five-run inning to end the game in the fifth.
Dodge suffers the loss after pitching two innings. Jester came in to finish the game starting in the third.
