Saints overpower Devils

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 17, 2008 3:03 PM

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DUDLEY -- Maybe it was divine intervention.

After four innings of poor at-bats and stale offense, Southern Wayne finally woke up offensively and pounded out a 7-3, non-conference victory over South Lenoir on Wednesday afternoon.

Saints right-hander Lauren Darden and Blue Devils righty Kayla Cole dueled for four innings, and neither starting pitcher permitted a hit.

Meredith Davis belted the first Southern Wayne hit with one out in the fifth. Darden followed with a single and Brianna Lofton gave the Saints their first lead with an RBI double off the center-field fence.

"We have to start coming out of the gate with a sense of urgency," said Saints head coach Michael Wiggs. "It seems like every game we get into the fourth or fifth inning, we realize that we need to get the bats going and we start to hit."

The Blue Devils tied the game during their next at-bat. A Saints error spoiled Darden's shutout bid and Kara Tucker singled home Ty Graham.

"South Lenoir is a good team, and when we put them on the schedule we knew that we were going to get a good game," Wiggs said. "You want some games in the middle of the conference schedule that you can use like practices to work on things and others like this, where you have to battle."

Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Southern Wayne went to work at the plate.

Alyssa Bradshaw took a fastball off the shoulder with one out and was followed by a Lindsey Pearsall single. Morgan Davis gave her team the lead with an RBI single to right center field.

Meredith Davis reached on an error and Darden ripped a double to plate a the third run of the inning. Once the Saints were done, they owned a commanding 7-2 advantage.

Again the Devils came out swinging. Taylor Williams walked to lead off the seventh and scored on a Cole single. Darden snuffed out the rally, however, with a game-ending strikeout.

Southern Wayne (13-2 overall) entertains Kinston on Friday.

"We came out on top the first time we played them, but with that said, we know Kinston is going to scrap and give us all they have," said Wiggs. "We can't allow them to hang around and gain confidence. We need to be ready to play."