AGGIES DROP TWO TO UNCGLuper doesn’t walk a batter in losing effort
GREENSBORO, March 26, 2008 – Freshman North Carolina A&T softball pitcher Jennifer Luper had great control of her pitches Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Aggies, UNC Greensboro got timely hitting to take down Luper and the Aggies 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader played at UNCG Softball Stadium.
The Aggies lost the second game 9-3.
Game 1 Spartans starter Amber Harrell (7-10) didn’t have as good a control as Luper, but she did pitch a complete-game, three-hitter, walked three and struck out five to earn the win. Luper (7-3) went six innings, gave up six hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter.
Luper did make two costly mistakes, however. In the second inning, she left a pitch over the plate for Spartans slugger Mary Catherine Vercoe. Vercoe took the pitch over the left field wall for a 1-0 Spartans lead. Between the third and fifth innings, Luper gave up just two hits. But in the sixth, she again left a pitch p over the plate. This time Brittany Ausley ripped the pitch down the left field line for a RBI double that scored Mary Greenway from second.
The Aggies had to prime opportunities to score on Harrell. In the first, the Aggies had runners at first and second with one out. A Tangie Conover ground out advanced the runners to third and second. Lillian Bullock fouled out, however, to end the inning.
The Aggies next best scoring opportunity came in the sixth. Yahamma White led off the inning by hitting a line drive into the right-center gap. White raced around the bases with ease until she made a turn around third base trying to score on an inside-the-park home run. White slowed down as she approached home.
Catcher Leslie Furness and third baseman Whitney Miller caught White in a run down, and Furness eventually tagged White out at the plate. Bullock led the Aggies’ seventh off with a walk, but Harrell set the rest of the Aggie batters in the inning down in order to end the game.
In Game 2, Yahamma White and Tangie Conover had two hits apiece in the game with Conover scoring twice and White scoring once.
The Aggies begin conference play on Saturday when they travel to Orangeburg, S.C., for a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The three-game series concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m.