MACON, Ga. (March 27) - The Florida A&M Softball team picked up their eighth win of the season as they split a doubleheader with Mercer University as the Lady Rattlers won game one, 7-4 and then dropped a 9-1 decision to the Bears in game two, here Wednesday afternoon at Sikes Field.
FAMU (8-26) finished the contest with a game high nine hits as Ashanti Shepherd, Brielle Gordon and Kieifi Myrick finished with two hits each.
MU (20-17) tallied five this in the contest with five Bears finishing with one hit each for the MU.
Jennifer Lindsey (4-15) got the win for the Lady Rattlers as she gave up five hits, four earned runs and striking out five in the seven innings in the circle for FAMU, while Julia Rice received the loss for the Bears as he pitched two and one-third innings, giving up four hits, four earned runs and striking out three in the 14 batters she faced.
Lady Rattlers struck first in the top of the first inning as Shepherd scored on an Aria Stewart single to left field, giving FAMU a 1-0 lead.
Mercer answered in the bottom of the first as McKenzie Woody scored on a Krista Kennedy fielder’s choice, followed by a Molly Garmany ground out to the shortstop scoring Ashton Holt, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Bears.
In the top of the third inning, FAMU took advantage of two Mercer errors as they scored four runs on three hits. Shepherd scored FAMU’s first fun of the inning on a Mercer error. Alyssa Weaver score the Lady Rattlers second run in the inning on a Gordon single to left center, followed by Myrick double down the left field line scoring, both Gordon and Robbielyn Roberson, giving the Lady Rattlers, a 5-2 lead.
The Lady Rattler added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning as Shepherd scored of third run of the game on a passed ball, giving FAMU a 6-2 lead.
Mercer cut into FAMU’s lead as both Sarah Santana and Garmany scored in the bottom of the sixth inning with Santana scoring on a Garmany single and then Garmany scoring on a Holt double to right center, cutting the Lady Rattlers lead to 6-4.
Gordon scored the Lady Rattlers final run of the game on a Corinne Gordon ground to second base in the top of the seventh inning, for the 7-4 finale.
In game two, FAMU finished the contest with four hits as four Lady Rattlers finished with one hit each.
MU tallied 11 hits as Santana finished with a game high three hits.
Julia Rice (11-7) picked up the win for Mercer in game two as she pitched five innings, allowing four hits, one earned run and striking out two in 17 batters she faced, while Ashley Minter received the loss for the Lady Rattlers as she gave up 10 hits, and nine earned runs in three and one-third innings of work.
MU took a 3-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning as the Lady Rattlers scored their only run of the game on a Myrick homer to left field, cutting the Bears’ lead to 3-1.
The Bears would then score six run in the bottom of the sixth for the 9-1 finale invoking the eight-run mercy rule.
FAMU will return to action as they will open up Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play on Friday, March 29 against Savannah State in a 1 p.m. start
