MOBILE, Ala-- The 11th-ranked University of Mobile softball team swept rival Spring Hill College by scores of 3-0 and 7-1 in a SSAC West doubleheader Sunday.
Mobile (25-7, 7-1) next plays at 2nd-ranked William Carey Wednesday, April 6 at 4 pm.
In the opener, Mobile capitalized on some Spring Hill miscues and got a dominant performance from Victoria Buie to take down the Badgers 3-0.
Buie allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 8 in 7 shutout innings, while Sam Brooks took the loss for Spring Hill after giving up 1 earned run on 6 hits in 7 innings of work.
Milagros Lozada finished 2-3 for the Lady Rams, while Ally Scott and Hannah Beth Baker each went 1-3 at the dish.
Buie and Brooks held the offenses in check through 5 innings before Mobile pushed through to score twice in the 6th. After a lead-off out, Jessica Rogers and Lozada singled to start the rally. A groundout moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and then a Spring Hill error brought home both runners.
Scott then led off the 7th with a triple and came around to score on a grounder. Spring Hill threatened with a double and single in the 7th, but Buie induced a groundout to end the threat.
While the bats were held in check in the early innings in the opener, Mobile scored early in game two, with three runs in the 1st and two in the 2nd. Kamaron Strickland picked up the win by limiting the Badgers to 1 run on 6 hits in a complete-game effort.
Nicole Walker paced the Lady Rams at the plate with a 4-4 performance, while Jessica Rogers finished 3-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Erica Bracey added a pair of hits, while Jessica Swanson finished 1-4 with 3 RBI.
All five of those early runs came with 2 outs. In the 1st, a double, hit-batsman and error extended the inning for Swanson to triple home three runs. In the 2nd, Holli McLeod drew a 2-out walk to bring Rogers to the plate, and Rogers singled home a pair.