WILSON, N.C. –Barton’s sophomore third baseman Rebecka Morgan had the game-winning RBI in both games as Barton College upset Conference Carolinas foe Coker College by scores of 4-3 (8 innings) and 1-0 Monday afternoon at Jeffries Field.
The Lady Bulldogs (19-25 Overall, 5-11) swept the perennial conference power for the first time under the leadership of 15th year head coach Sheryl Neff.
Barton ended a nine game win streak for the Lady Cobras (21-19, 9-7).
Morgan (Huntingtown, Md.) and juniors Kendall Street (Bertie, N.C.) and Stacy Wade (Snow Hill, N.C.) all collected three hits for the Bulldogs. Junior Emily Jordan (Goldsboro, N.C.) and freshman Autumn Pittman (Pikeville, N.C.) each tossed complete-game victories as the duo never allowed an earned run.
Sophomore Sarah Rountree (Plantation, Fla.) was the leading hitter for the Cobras with four hits on the day including a triple in game two. Freshman Sydney Weatherford (Scranton, S.C.) and sophomore Bri Jacobs (Bolton, N.C.) were both 2-for-3 with an RBI in game one.
GAME ONE: Barton 4, Coker 3
After Coker scored its international tie-breaker runner in the top of the eighth, Barton plated a pair of runs in the home half capped by a walk-off single by Morgan as the hosts escaped with a 4-3 win in the opener.
With one out in the eighth Wade hit a single into the left field gap that moved the potential tying runner in Jordan to third. After a passed ball moved Wade to second, sophomore Elizabeth Webb (Wilson, N.C.) hit a sacrifice fly caught in the right field foul territory that was deep enough to tag up both Jordan and Wade. Morgan then stepped into the batter’s box with Barton down to its final out and ripped a single back up the middle to plate Wade for the final run.
Barton took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI-groundout by Webb and a 2-1 advantage in the fourth on a run-producing single off Street’s bat. Coker deadlocked the score both times to force extra innings with unearned runs in the fourth and sixth. Jacobs knotted the score at 2-2 with a single in the sixth and a sacrifice fly in the eighth by Weatherford gave the visitors its only lead of the day.
Jordan (10-9) scattered nine hits and did not allow an earned run while fanning three Cobras.
Senior starter Sydney Greenwalt (Edwardsville, Ill.) kept Coker in the contest only allowing one earned run over eight strong innings but eventually suffered the loss to slip to 10-7. The lefty had four K’s.
GAME TWO: Barton 1, Coker 0
Pittman hurled her first collegiate shutout as Barton completed the sweep with a narrow 1-0 victory in the nightcap. Pittman (3-3) retired the first nine batters, did not issue a walk and struck out a pair.
Morgan supplied the Lady Bulldogs with the game’s only run in the third.
Coker had its best chance to score in the sixth when Rountree led off with a triple to right but Pittman successfully pitched herself out of the jam with an ensuing groundout followed by a strikeout and a popup.
Street had two of the Bulldogs five hits off junior Becky Dillon (West Palm Beach, Fla.) with a double in the second and a single in the third. Dillon (5-6) had six strikeouts in the losing effort.
Coker will be back on the field on Tuesday at home against conference leading Erskine College starting at 2:00 p.m.