Peace College Cruises by Meredith College in Softball Action Pacers take two games from cross-town rival

Raleigh, NC – The Peace College softball team started off slow, but quickly got on track versus Meredith College in NCAA division III action on Wednesday afternoon on the campus of the Pacers. Peace took two games from the cross-town Angels, 8-2, 9-1 on a day filled with off-diamond activities.

Thanks to The Strike-Out Cancer initiative, which unites the American Cancer Society and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association to help raise funds and awareness to fight cancer, the Pacers held a breast cancer awareness day. The contest, which was dubbed the “Pacers go pink game”, had its share of guest celebrities in attendance. North Carolina State softball coach, Lisa Navas and her 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference championship team was honored at the event, in addition to guest appearances by Wool E. Bull, the famed mascot of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team, and Stormy who acts as the official team mascot of the defending Stanley Cup champions Carolina Hurricanes.

Although it would be easy to get distracted at all that was going on, somehow the Pacers were able to concentrate on the base path and put up seventeen runs in just twelve innings of play. Game one saw the Angels strike first as Adrienne Bryant knocked in Lindsey Hastings on an RBI single with two outs in the top of the first inning to put Meredith up 1-0. Peace would answer back as their bats started to come alive. The Pacers were able to score a run in each of the next three innings to give them a 3-2 lead after a scoreless fifth inning.

The game was in question as the home team stepped to the plate in the top of the 6th inning, but those doubts were quickly diminished. Summer Evans started the inning by cranking a Krista Giles fastball over the centerfield fence to double the Peace lead at 4-2. The scoring barrage did not end there. Kristyn Trogdon stepped up with one out and doubled to right-center field and advanced to third base after Ashley Weathersbee singled up the middle. Trogdon would score on the next pitch as Kristen Crandall plated her with another single to put the Pacers up 5-2. Lauren Pleasant would clear the bases with two outs as she smacked a double past the Angels defense to bring in both Crandall and Weathersbee and then Holly Braswell did the same to bring Pleasant around the bases to give Peace an 8-2 lead.

Meredith could not muster any runs in the top half of the seventh inning giving the Pacers the victory in game one. Peace was led by Lauren Pleasant who went 2 for 4 with two RBI’s. Braswell and Trogdon also had two hits a piece respectively, while each knocked in one run to pace the Peace offensive effort. Hastings was the only Angel to record two hits for the visitors as Ashley Stansbury went the distance on the mound for Peace. Stansbury gave up nine hits and one earned run, but fanned nine batters in the winning effort. Giles took the loss for Meredith in game one.

The night cap saw a very similar scenario as game one. Peace was slow to put runs on the board, but would come alive in the later innings. Pleasant and Braswell both batted in runs in the third inning, to put the Pacers up 2-0 
heading into the fourth inning. Meredith would add a run in the top half of the fourth to keep the game alive, but Peace would again have a huge inning to put the game out of reach.Stansbury would add a few RBI’s to her stats as she stepped to the plate in the fifth inning. The freshman pitcher/designated hitter took Angels pitcher Giles deep to left-center field for another Pacer home run and give the Pacers a 5-1 lead. Peace did not stop scoring. 
The Pac ers added another four runs via RBI’s by Kenni Seagroves, Trogdon, Crandall, and Braswell respectively. The onslaught put Peace up 9-1 and put the game out of reach as it led to a mercy ruling to stop play after five innings of play.

Lauren Pleasant went the distance on the mound picking up the win for Peace, as a very fatigued Giles dropped her second game in a row as she pitched every inning for Meredith in the two game set. The Pacers were led on offense by Stansbury who batted in three runs on one hit and Braswell who was two for three with two RBI’s.

The two wins move Peace to 23-13 overall, while the Angels dropped to 6-28 on the season. The Pacers will turn their focus back to USA South Conference play as the conference tournament nears next weekend. Peace has one more double-header scheduled for Friday as they play host to fellow conference member, Shenandoah University. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM in Raleigh.