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Lady Hornets defeat previously unbeaten North Little Rock |
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Thursday, 24 April 2008 |
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By Bruce Guthrie Courier Sports Some solid defense and some nifty running in the late innings overcame some offensive futility as the Bryant Lady Hornets beat the previously unbeaten North Little Rock 3-2 in eight innings.
North Little Rock got on the board first at the outset. A walk, an error and a wild pitch brought a run home putting the Lady Charging Wildcats on top early.
The Lady Hornets evened things up in their half of the opening inning.
Kristen Dorsey led off with a hit in front of Christen Kirchner who drew a one-out walk. Kim Wilson then hit a ground ball to second that was thrown away at first base allowing Dorsey to trot home to tie the game at one.
North Little Rock got another run on the board in the third when Kenesha Phillips scored on a sacrifice fly giving the Lady Charging Wildcats a 2-1 advantage.
The Lady Hornets almost answered again. Dorsey got a lead-off double but a pair of strikeouts left her at third base.
It took until the bottom of the sixth for Bryant to get even.
Second baseman Kim Wilson tied the score at two. She led off with a double and scored on Brandi Barnes' RBI groundout.
Bryant seized momentum in the top half of the seventh. With runners on second and third and only one out, Kirchner induced a popout that Sarah Hart snagged out of her crouch behind the plate then struck out Phillips to end the inning.
The Lady Hornets carried that momentum into the bottom half. With two out, Paige Turpin and Kirchner both got clutch singles. With two out, Wilson popped out to center to end the threat.
That set up the international tie-breaker. North Little Rock's runner on second base was picked off eliminating their scoring chance.
Kristin Morehart took second base in Bryant's bottom half of the eighth. Mo McDaniel's bunt attempt failed but Morehart managed to get to third on a wild pitch and scored the winning run on another wild pitch.
"You can't hardly hold her up," Lady Hornets' head coach Lisa Dreher said of Morehart. "She is so aggressive."
The win puts Bryant (12-4-1, 7-2) firmly in second place with five conference games remaining.
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