CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queens University of Charlotte softball team swiped two commanding shutouts — 6-0, 10-0 — against the North Carolina Central Eagles on Saturday, March 2 at the "Stick" Williams Dream Fields.
GAME ONE — Queens 6, North Carolina Central 0
In dominating fashion, Autumn Courtney snagged her fifth solo shutout in the circle in the first game against the Eagles — swiping a career-best matching 15 strikeouts and only allowing one hit.
The Royals started with a three-run first inning consisting of a sacrifice fly RBI from Ashlyn Mickler and an error off of a smack from Makala Strickland allowing two more to score.
Queens would score in the second, third, and sixth innings to finish off their 6-0 triumph, with Abby Craver, Kayla Smith, and Lindsey DeRoeck all putting down an RBI to their stat line.
Starting Eagles pitcher Jaden Davis finished with 121 pitches in six innings pitched, with six errors, three walks, and four strikeouts.
Courtney went the full seven-inning stretch in the shutout, earning her the leading spot in NCAA Division I in solo shutouts with five (ahead of Emiley Kennedy from Texas A&M and Kasey Ricard from Boston U.)*
"Autumn Courtney is one of the most competitive individuals I know," said Queens Assistant Coach Sierra Vanzant-Cheek. "She knows how to relax when she needs to relax, but when she gets to the circle she knows to lock in. She is locked in now, and I cannot wait to see what this year has in store for her."
GAME TWO — Queens 10, North Carolina Central 0
With Abby Craver taking over pitching duties in the second game, she finished right where Courtney left off — tallying her own solo shutout. Craver finished tabbing six strikeouts, a walk, and zero errors in five innings pitched,
In a fiery fourth inning from the Royals, DeRoeck started the scoring with a beautiful bunt to score Smith from third. Brooke Piper then came up to bat and hit a single up the middle to score DeRoeck. Soon, a passed ball from Xenna Tompkins advanced all runners and scored another Royal before Strickland reached base on a fielder's choice and scored another — putting the score at 4-0. In one more scoring stretch in the fourth, Kasidi Staley swung a two-run single up the middle to end the 6-0 scoring frenzy.
After a quick three-up, three-down inning to shut down the Eagles, Queens came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning and put the first three of four batters on base due to an error and two walks. Strickland soon came up to the plate and called game with a huge grand slam to left field to finish off the 10-0 mercy rule victory.
The 10-run win marks the most runs scored by Queens this season, and the most runs scored by Queens since their 11-0 win over North Carolina A&T on Feb. 19, 2023.
Queens snagged ten runs off seven hits, and the Royals defense finished with a perfect zero errors.
"We worked really hard this week in our bullpen to get ahead in the count, and we saw Autumn and Abby pitch some of their best work this season," said Vanzant-Cheek. "Our defense came together behind them as well and our offense was absolutely explosive."
UP NEXT
Up next, the Royals face Gardner-Webb in a midweek doubleheader in Boiling Springs, N.C. on Wednesday with 3:00 and 5:00 PM start times.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow the Royals softball team on Instagram and Twitter/X to stay up to date on all the latest news surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics to stay updated on all the Royals sports teams in action by searching @QueensAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
*Queens currently is in the reclassifying process into Division I.
