Pioneers Drop Two At Home

Pioneers Drop Two At Home- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 3-21-23

CRC Softball opened their 2023 season with a doubleheader sweep against the Buffaloes of Arkansas Baptist back on February, 9th but yesterday the Lady Buffaloes got the last laugh as they swept the Lady Pioneers in their season home opener and along while snapping CRC's 7-game win streak

Game One:

Crowley's Ridge- 1

Arkansas Baptist- 2

Paragould, Ark.- The Pioneers came out swinging in game one as they went the entire game without a Lady Pioneer being retired by a strikeout. Though the Pioneers put the ball in play, CRC struggled to find the gaps in the Buffalo defense as they were held to only three hits in the contest. Shelby Elrod held the Arkansas Baptist offense to just 6 hits from the pitcher's circle but what doomed the Pioneers' fate would be back to back 1 run innings early in the contest in the 2nd and 3rd. CRC's only run of the day came in the bottom half of the 3rd from Piper Farmer ripping an RBI double past the right fielder that score Bailey Cupples from first base. Crowley's Ridge now trailing by one did manage to get runners on base for the next 3 innings but would not be unable to get them across ultimately falling 2-1. 

Leaders: Hitting

Elrod, Hannah Burk, and Farmer all collected one hit in the contest.

Pitching:

Elrod: 7.0inns., 6 H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 8 SO

Game Two:

Crowley's Ridge-6

Arkansas Baptist- 9

Paragould, Ark.- In game two the Pioneers improved their team hit effort by finding more holes in the Buffalo defense by smacking out 8 hits in the game. CRC scored 6 runs on these 8 hits but still fell short after a big 6th-inning rally when the Buffaloes pushed 7 runs across. Halea Wells got the start and dealt 5 solid innings holding Arkansas Baptist scoreless while her offense jumped ahead to a 4-0 lead. CRC linked together a 4 hit inning in the third with Maddie Reed and Hannah Burk each driving in one run. The next runs came from Ashton Drake hitting a sac fly to centerfield along Reed driving in her second RBI of the game with a shot to third base in the 4th. Wells headed out for the 6th but ran into a jam as the Buffaloes opened the inning by linking together 5 hits making the CRC lead drop to one, 4-3. With no outs, CRC made a pitching change to try and get out of the inning but the CRC bullpen struggled to find the strike zone and allowed 4 more runs to cross before ending the inning. CRC chipped back at the score with Hannah Burk hitting a sac fly to right field scoring 1 in the 6th but a 2-out error by the Pioneers in the top of the 7th allowed two more Buffaloes to cross the plate. CRC scored one more in the bottom of the 7th with the help of a botched groundball to the shortstop but the Pioneers wouldn't overcome the deficit as they fell to Arkansas Baptist 9-6. 

Leaders: Hitting

Elrod led going (2-4) Reed, Burk, and Drake all collected 2(RBI) in the contest.

Pitching:

Wells: 5.0 inns., 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO