Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Maryville Sweeps Wesleyan, Tied for 2nd
Photos by Moriah Tant '23
MARYVILLE – Maryville moved into a tie for second place in the Western Division of USA South after securing a pair of mirror-image victories Sunday against Wesleyan.
The Scots won 8-0 in six innings and 8-0 in five innings – both games halted by the run rule. Maryville had seven hits in each contest and limited the Wolves to just five combined hits in the two shutouts
Megan Ackerman picked up her 10th pitching victory in Game 1, improving to 10-7. She allowed three hits and struck out six against just one walk. Kennedy Henry in the nightcap improved to 3-2 after she scattered two hits and struck out four without walking a batter.
"Both Megan and Kennedy pitched very well for us today, and that's what we needed," Maryville head coach Leah Kelley said. "We needed, basically, two No. 1 pitchers. One for Game 1 and one for Game 2 to pitch the full seven innings, and then offense to back them up.
"Berea was the game I first saw Kennedy grow, and since then she's continued to get better and better. She had a great game that day for all seven innings, and that was big for her. She's really grasped that mentality and it has carried game to game."
One Game Out of First
The Scots with their twin wins moved to 15-13 overall and 6-2 in the USA South. That's just one game behind leader Piedmont at 7-1 and tied with Huntingdon and Covenant.
Maryville takes on Covenant in a big doubleheader this Wednesday on Lookout Mountain. First pitch is 3 p.m.
Kaitlin Woodruff continued her hot hitting Sunday, going 2-for-4 in the doubleheader and boosting her average to a team-leading .456. That would rank fifth in the conference if she had played the 75 percent minimum number of games. Woodruff is at 20 games out of 28 for the team, so she will be at the minimum by the end of next weekend.
Included during Sunday's Game 2 for Woodruff was a two-run single in the second inning and a two-run double in the fourth.
"I am so proud of my team, so proud of Kennedy and Megan and how they pitched," Woodruff said. "It was fun to back them up today. I knew I had to do a job for my team, so I was looking for good pitches to hit."
Henry Continues Fine Form
Henry was the beneficiary of that offensive support in the circle. She has been riding a wave over the second half of this season and emerging as a truly dependable starter.
"I started working on my spot and trusting myself," Henry said. "Off the plate and on the plate, I'm just trying to keep the ball low and really spinning it. We've been working hard and I'm continuing to make small adjustments to other teams and their strike zones and the umpires' strike zones."
In the first game, Jenica Brown was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one driven in to lead the offense. She capped the 8-0 victory in the sixth by contributing an RBI-single, stealing two bases and then trotting home on a throwing error for the final run.
The Scots took advantage of two Wesleyan errors in the opener and four more in the nightcap. Ten of Maryville's 16 runs were earned.
