Huntingdon softball wins twice on Day 1 of USA South Tournament

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Pitcher Brooke Meadows shut down two teams and the Huntingdon batters did the rest as the Lady Hawks picked up two wins during the first day of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament.

Huntingdon beat North Carolina Wesleyan 7-0 in Game 1 and knocked off Greensboro 7-1 in Game 2.

The second-seeded Lady Hawks (23-12) will play eighth-seeded LaGrange (22-12) at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday. The winner advances to the championship game on Sunday at 12 p.m. Central. The loser will face an elimination game at 9 a.m. Central on Sunday.

LaGrange advanced by beating top-seeded Piedmont 4-0 and fourth-seeded Ferrum 3-1 on Friday.

Meadows (12-4) pitched 14 innings on Friday, recorded 21 strikeouts, walked four, scattered five hits and allowed one earned run. The senior now has 129 strikeouts in 101 1/3 innings this season and continues to lead the conference in strikeouts per game (8.91) and ERA (0.90).

Against N.C. Wesleyan, Meadows fired a one-hitter, threw seven scoreless innings and struck out 12. Against Greensboro, she struck out nine and allowed four hits and one earned run.

While Meadows was baffling the opposition, Huntingdon had no trouble at the plate. Halleigh DiNicholas was 5-for-6 with a solo home run, three RBIs and two runs in the two games. Lauren Welch was 4-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs and Heather McGuirk was 3-for-6 with a two-run home run, two RBIs and three runs.

McGuirk set the tone early against N.C. Wesleyan, giving Huntingdon a 2-0 lead with a home run in the bottom of the first inning. Huntingdon added three runs in the third inning and two runs in the fifth inning.

McGuirk finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs against the Battling Bishops (18-18). DiNicholas was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run in the game. Welch had a RBI and a run and Meadows had one RBI. Gabby Alcantar, who had two hits in the game, scored one run, as did Jenna Rimensnyder and Daisha Henderson. Henderson had two stolen bases in the game.

Tied 1-1 against Greensboro (20-18), Huntingdon scored six runs in the middle innings to pull away. The Lady Hawks batted around in the fourth inning to score four runs and take a 5-1 lead.

Alicia Gauker scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning and Rimensnyder closed the scoring on a Welch single in the sixth. Rimensnyder, who scored the first run of the game for Huntingdon, also had a RBI against the Pride.

Welch was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a run in the game, DiNicholas was 2-for-3 with a run and Ashlee Zachmeyer was 2-for-4 with a run.

Alcantar, Morgan Goshorn and Holly Ostrander each had one RBI and McGuirk scored one run.