Elrod Earns 10th Win In Doubleheader Sweep Over Hannibal-LaGrange

Elrod Earns 10th Win In Doubleheader Sweep Over Hannibal-LaGrange- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 4/11/24

*Photo Credits: Autumn Winston Burk*

CRC Softball picked up two road wins today and increased their win streak to four with two victories over HLGU. CRC improves to 17-11 on the year with the Lady Pioneers having won four of the last six match-ups in April. 

Game One: 

Crowley's Ridge- 3

Hannibal-LaGrange- 2

Hannibal, MO- Shelby Elrod crossed the double-digit win line for the second consecutive season after brushing past the Lady Trojans with a thrilling one-run victory in game one. The senior spun all 7.0 innings allowing five hits, surrendering two runs (zero earned) while walking none and striking out five. In the low-scoring contest, the Lady Pioneers laced out ten hits on which they scored their three runs. Hannah Burk, Kylie Cox, and Kourtni Jagneaux claimed the big-time hits for the Lady Pioneers by each driving in one run. Burk opened the scoring with a double in the first which Cox followed with her double in the second before Jagneaux got the game-deciding third run to the plate in the top of the fifth with a groundout to short. The Lady Trojans summoned both of their runs in their frame of the fifth capitalizing on a CRC mishap, but the Pioneers' defense exited the inning maintaining the lead, holding off Hannibal-LaGrange to claim the contest. Elrod, Cox, Jagneaux, and Piper Farmer all had two hits in the win. 

Game Two:

Crowley's Ridge- 19

Hannibal-LaGrange- 14

Hannibal, MO- A polar opposite performance for both teams emerged in game two with both teams crushing out a combined thirty-six hits, scoring a combined thirty-three runs over the seven innings. Favorably for CRC, the Lady Pioneers came on top in all categories as they bashed out season highs with twenty-two hits on which they scored nineteen runs. CRC sprung ahead of the hosting team by taking a thirteen-to-nil lead after their opening three turns at the plate. This colossal amount of runs is credited to five extra-base hits from the Pioneers, including three RBI triples as Shelby Elrod, Bailey Cupples, and Hannah Burk all made the long haul around the bases. Hannibal-LaGrange responded to CRC's sudden burst by cutting CRC's massive lead to just one by producing twelve unanswered runs over the next three innings before Shelby Elrod's third triple of the game broke the Pioneer run-drought, encouraging the team to score its last six runs of the game to seal the win for the series sweep. Six Lady Pioneers had three or more hits in the game. Bailey Cupples led going (4-5) with 2 doubles, a triple, and 5 RBIs. Kourtni Jagneaux also had four hits going (4-6) with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. Shelby Elrod was (3-5) with 3 triples and 4 RBIs. Hannah Burk was (3-6) with a triple and an RBI, Jocelyn Villarreal was (3-4) with an RBI, Brooklyn Meslon was (3-5), and Dru Bryant was (1-3) with 3 RBIs with 2 walks. Natalie Brightwell was the winning pitcher as the reliever tossed 2.0 innings allowing six runs on seven hits. Elrod closed the game tossing the final 2.2 innings earning the save. Halea Wells earned the no-decision throwing 2.1 innings allowing six runs on four hits. 

Up Next: CRC softball returns to Paragould to take on NCAA DIII Greenville University for their senior day at Pioneer Park on Saturday, April 13th. #GOPIONEERS