BOILING SPRINGS, NC— The Winthrop softball team dropped its second straight game as it came up short in a 2-1 nine inning loss at Gardner-Webb, Tuesday afternoon in Big South Conference action.
Gardner-Webb (18-29, 8-10 Big South) scored with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Jane Savage was placed on second and came around to score two batters later on a Mandy Ward single to right center.
Neither team could score in the eighth inning as each team had a runner sacrificed to third base, but were unable to come up with a hit. In the top of the ninth, Winthrop sacrificed Melanie Andrea to third, but Kelly Blea struck out swinging and Megan Evans grounded out on a pinch-hit.
The Bulldogs scored first as Lindsea Hutchinson connected for her fourth home run with a solo shot to left field.
Winthrop (24-23, 7-8 Big South) tied the game in the top of the sixth inning as Chelsey Schoenfeldt doubled down the right field line with one out. Teja Durante pinch-ran for Schoenfeldt and eventually scored on a throwing error by Gardner-Webb pitcher Cindy Boomhower.
All three meetings this season between the Lady Eagles and Bulldogs have gone to extra innings as Winthrop won both games of a double-header at home on April 13. On the year the Lady Eagles are now 5-3 in extra inning games.
Cari Wooldridge suffered the loss for Winthrop as she allowed only two hits all game, but both of them drove in a run. Wooldridge walked one batter and struck out six as she falls to 13-12 on the season.
Boomhower earned the win as she allowed one run on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Ashlee Revell had two of Winthrop's four hits and Megan Chapman went 1-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to five games.
Winthrop will return home for its final five games of the regular season beginning this weekend with a three-game series against Coastal Carolina. The double-header will be played on Saturday, May 1 at 5 p.m. and then the series will wrap-up with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.