Kalie Smith's grand slam capped a five-run fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie, and Jennifer Jones and Rebekah McDaniel also homered as Mount Olive went on to defeat Erskine 10-4 in game two of a Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader Monday at Due West, S.C. The Trojans have hit eight home runs in their last four games. Smith became the third Trojan this season to hit a grand slam.
Erskine took the opener 5-4 in eight innings as Mount Olive rallied from a two-run deficit to force extra innings, but the Flying Fleet came back from two runs down in the final inning.
The doubleheader was the conference opener for Mount Olive (12-6 overall, 1-1 Conference Carolinas). The twinbill was moved up a day due to inclement weather forecast Tuesday for Update South Carolina.
After both teams left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Mount Olive got on the scoreboard as Lauren McGrath led off the top of the fifth with a single and scored the game's first run on Beth Overman's rbi-double. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and after a pitching change, Smith sent an 0-2 pitch out of the park for her second home run of the season and her first collegiate grand slam to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead. Overman and Jesse Crist have also hit grand slam home runs this season.
The Trojans added an unearned run in the sixth, and Jones and McDaniel connected on two-run homers in a four-run seventh inning to extend the lead to 10-1. Jones' home run was her team-leading fourth of the season and McDaniel's was her third. Both Jones and McDaniel homered the previous day at the Mid-South Classic, Jones' home run coming against nationally 10th-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State.
Mount Olive starting pitcher Lauren Smith (3-2) took a shutout into the sixth inning until Erskine's Larissa Shannon led off the inning with a home run. Shannon, who also hit a solo home run in game one, added a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Smith went the distance, throwing 101 pitches. She finished with an eight-hitter, striking out two and walking one. Smith picked up the decision in both ends of the doubleheader.
In the opener, Mount Olive was down 2-0 when Megan Ready and Danielle Mitchell led off the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles. Ready scored on Katie Moore's one-out rbi-single and Mitchell came home on an error to tie the game 2-2. Neither team scored in the seventh, sending the game to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, McGrath was placed on second for the extra-inning tie-breaker rule, and scored on Ready's rbi-double to give Mount Olive its first lead of the game. Ready eventually scored on Moore's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to give the Trojans a 4-2 lead.
Erskine (3-8-1, 1-1) answered in the bottom of the eighth as the tie-breaker runner scored when Lindsay Waters reached on an error. Shannon was hit by a pitch and the runners advanced to second and third on a double steal. Both runners scored when Megan Purcell singled to center to end the game and give the Flying Fleet the win.
Trojan starting pitcher Madison Johnston went seven innings, striking out two and walking none. She scattered five hits and allowed only one earned run, a third-inning solo home run by Shannon.
Mount Olive is idle until March 13 when the Trojans travel to Hartsville, S.C., to take on Coker in Conference Carolinas action. The Trojans swept Coker during the 2012 regular season, but fell 11-10 in eight innings in last year's conference tournament.