Jaguar softball swept by Wingate as Bulldogs' Brooks hits three home runs
By Chris Rickerson | Sports editor
The Augusta University softball team lost both ends of the doubleheader against Wingate, losing each game by a score of 8-4 on Thursday, Feb. 3, in Wingate, N.C.
Mary Tillman started the opener for the Jaguars, while Sydney Kale was on the mound for the Bulldogs.
After a wild pitch by Tilman, the Bulldogs put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Jaguars battled right back in the top of second with a two-run single by senior Madelyn Libby, tying the game 2-2.
Freshman Savanna Brooks hit her first career homerun for the Bulldogs in the bottom of third inning, pushing their lead to 5-2. Wingate piled on three more runs in the fourth inning, making the score 8-2.
Paige Patterson, a freshman from Woodstock, hit a solo homer in the top of the fifth and another in the seventh inning for the Jaguars. The multi-homer game from Patterson wouldn’t be enough in the first game for AU, as Wingate won by four runs.
Patterson led the Jaguars with three hits and two RBIs. Libby also hit well, finishing with two hits and two RBIs. Tilman got the loss for the Jaguars, giving up eight hits and finishing with seven strikeouts.
Brooks finished with two hits and four RBIs for the Bulldogs, leading the team. Sara Stroud led the team in runs with three. Kale got the win for the Bulldogs, giving up nine hits but only four runs and finishing with 5 strikeouts.
Freshman Maggie McBrayer started Game Two for the Jaguars against Wingate junior Danielle Kirchhofer.
Similar to the first game, Brooks hit a two-run homer early, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Laney McLaurin added two more runs for the Bulldogs with a homer in the bottom of the third inning, making the score 4-0.
Brooks hit her third home run of the day in the fourth inning, driving in three runs and increasing the lead to 8-0.
AU finally got on the board with a solo homer by senior Summer Frye in the top of the fifth inning. Freshman Bailee Roberts kept the Jaguars in the game with three-run homer in the sixth, but it would be too late as Wingate held on to win 8-4.
Kirchhofer got the win for the Bulldogs, pitching five innings and only giving up one run with three strikeouts. McBrayer got the loss, finishing with four strikeouts and giving up eight hits and eight runs.
Brooks led the Bulldogs with two home runs and five RBIs in game two. She finished the day with an incredible five hits, three of which were home runs, and nine RBIs in her college debut.
Roberts was the only Jaguar with more than one hit, as she finished with two hits and three RBIs.
The Jaguars (2-2) next matchup will be a doubleheader on the road against Catawba College (0-0) on Saturday, Feb. 5. Game one will be at 1 p.m., followed by game two at 3 p.m.
Contact Chris Rickerson at crickerson@augusta.edu.
AU shortstop Jakayla Sullivan fires to first base. At the top of the page, Bailee Roberts had three hits, including a three-run homer, in the doubleheader at Wingate. (photos by Chris Rickerson)
