DURHAM, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb University softball team found two different ways to win Tuesday in a doubleheader sweep of host North Carolina Central University. The Runnin' Bulldogs rode the strength of a shutout pitching performance to win the opener 4-0 and then narrowly outslugged the Lady Eagles 11-10 in the nightcap.
 
Gardner-Webb tallied 23 total hits to improve its overall record to 12-13. NCCU slipped to 3-4 at home and 3-24 overall.
 
Seniors Casey Hargett and Markell Wylie and junior Dominique Wilson all collected three hits for the Lady Eagles. Wilson drove in four runs to increase her team-high RBI total to 14. Hargett and Wylie both scored twice along with freshman Breanna Carter. Senior Jenny Tracy knocked in three NCCU runs and sophomore Danyelle Noland tallied one hit in each contest.
 
GAME ONE: Gardner-Webb 4, N.C. Central 0
 
Junior starter Mackenzie Thompson tossed her second shutout of the season, holding the Lady Eagles to just four hits over seven innings of work. Thompson improved to 7-4 with her seven-strikeout performance.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs scored twice in both the first and fifth innings to account for Thompson's run support. Senior Jill Blank had two of GWU's eight hits and junior Megan Champion supplied a two-run single in the fifth.
 
NCCU had several chances of scoring with runners in scoring position in four of seven frames. Three of the Eagles four base knocks were doubles off the bats of Wilson, Hargett and Wylie.
 
Junior Jennifer Allison (1-10) was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of action in the start. Wilson pitched the final 2 2/3 innings and registered six of eight outs by strikeout.
 
GAME TWO: Gardner-Webb 11, N.C. Central 10
 
NCCU pulled within one run of Gardner-Webb in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but the visitors were able to end each threat just before the Lady Eagles were able to level the scoreboard.
 
An RBI-groundout by Allison inched the Maroon and Gray to within one run for the first time at 3-2. The Runnin' Bulldogs responded with three runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth. However, both times NCCU matched GWU with the same number of runs in the home half of those two innings to keep the outcome in limbo until the final out.
 
Hargett provided NCCU with its only lead with a double in the first that scored Wylie. Hargett, Wylie and Carter would all score twice in the finale.
 
Tracy and Wilson highlighted the Lady Eagles late inning comeback attempts. Tracy smacked a two-run single up the middle in the fifth and added another run-producing single in the sixth. Wilson drove in a run with a single in the fifth and then poked a bases-clearing, three-run double down the right field line in the sixth.
 
Gardner-Webb grabbed the lead for good with their first three runs in the third, which allowed freshman starter Devyn Terry to be credited with her first collegiate win. Terry (1-3) went 4 2/3 and gave up five runs on seven hits. Sophomore Ashley Wark entered the game with the Runnin' Bulldogs clinging to a 6-5 lead with two out in the fifth. Wark got that out on a groundout and was able to then finish the game despite allowing five unearned runs in the sixth for her first save.
 
Offensively, senior Amanda Gomes logged three hits and three RBI, including a two-run home in the sixth and Champion ripped a three-run homer later in the frame. Nine total Gardner-Webb batters hit safely.
 
Senior London Booker and Wilson combined for 11 strikeouts for NCCU but they were tagged for just as many runs. Booker (2-10) pitched four combined innings and gave up three runs over that span with a half dozen K's.