FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – It was a bounce back effort for Southern Wesleyan softball, sweeping Emmanuel a day after being swept by the Lions. The Warriors won game one 8-7 before taking game two 13-5.
The wins by SWU and the losses by Coastal Georgia keep the final spot in the SSAC Tournament in limbo. The Warriors can still qualify but will need to win at least one against No. 22 Brenau in the regular season finale on Friday and get a lot of help.
SWU is currently two games behind Brewton-Parker who is in fourth and 1.5 games behind Coastal Georgia in fifth. The Mariners still have games left against Auburn-Montgomery and Martin Methodist while the Barons will finish the year with Brenau, AUM and Martin Methodist. The tournament field is determined based on winning percentage.
The Warriors will close out the regular season at home against Brenau on Friday at 5 p.m. at Varsity Field.
Game One
The bats came alive for the Warriors but the pitching and defense had to withstand a late Emmanuel rally to come out with an 8-7 win over the Lions on Tuesday night. Allison Barbee hit a home run for the third straight game as the Warriors went deep three times in the game.
Barbee's eighth bomb of the year came in the first inning, a two-run shot that scored Savannah Carpenter after her leadoff triple. Not to be outdone, Lizzie Fela followed Barbee with her eighth home run of the season as SWU went back-to-back. Fela and Barbee share the team lead with those eight home runs.
Allison Parker helped herself with a solo home run with one out in the second as the Warriors collected six extra base hits in the game. Parker also doubled in the sixth as she was joined by Barbee and Carpenter with two hits.
The Warriors' lead grew to 7-0 after the top of the third but a three-run bottom of the third for Emmanuel brought the lead back to four. The Lions got another run back in the sixth but the Warriors answered with one in the seventh as Callie Wayne doubled in Barbee.
The Lions scored three times in the bottom of the seventh but Jenn Jacoby came in to shut the door and get the final two outs to preserve the win and snap a 12-game losing streak for the Warriors. Jacoby picked up her first save of the year while Allison Parker picked up the win to improve to 6-9 on the year. Leah Ritchhart took the loss to fall to 5-17.
Game Two
After picking up the save in game one Jenn Jacoby went the distance in game two to pick up the win and improve to 7-12. Jacoby struck out four and gave up nine hits, allowing five runs along the way.
Allison Barbee continued her torrid pace with solo home run in the fourth, her fourth straight game with a home run and her team-leading ninth on the year. She also doubled and had three hits in the game and four runs scored.
Lizzie Fela had four hits and four RBI in the game as the Warriors pounded out 18 hits. M.C. Garrett added three hits as Savannah Carpenter and Ashleigh Wilbur chipped in with two hits apiece.
The Warriors jumped out to another big early lead with three runs in the first and two more in the second. They added another three runs in the fourth to go up 7-0 before Emmanuel got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Warriors score once in the sixth and finished in grand style with five in the seventh.
