HAWKS FALL SHORT IN DOUBLEHEADER WITH SOUTH CAROLINA STATE

ORANGEBURG, SC: For the fourth straight day, the Hawks were on the road, continuing their South Carolina tour.  This time, Humber was tasked with playing the South Carolina State Bulldogs, another NCAA DI team.

Through seven games, two factors have prevented the Hawks from dominating their competition.  Humber has given up 18 first inning runs, falling too far behind to overcome against good pitching.  The Hawks have also failed to get timely hits and have stranded the bases loaded six times. 

Both factors came into play in the first game. 

After the Bulldogs scored six runs – four earned – in the first inning, Humber gave themselves another large deficit to overcome. 

Freshman pitcher Myranda Pierson (Toronto) came on in relief, putting together her best performance of the week.  Pierson limited the Bulldogs to two runs over 5.2 innings and only gave up four hits.

Pierson's performance allowed the Hawks to chip away at the lead.  In the fifth inning, Bonnie Gillingham (Brampton) hit a two run single, collecting her fourth and fifth RBI's of the week.

The Hawks were unable to overcome the early deficit and lost 8-4.  Despite the final score, the game was always in reach for the Hawks.  Humber stranded eight base runners and left the bases loaded twice in the game.

Game two had Briana Donaldson (Gorrie) back on the mound for Humber, a day removed from her complete game one run loss against Winthrop University.  Donaldson cruised through the first inning, going three up three down.  Fatigue began to set in however, as the kinesiology major began to lose her pinpoint accuracy and the Bulldogs took advantage, scoring five runs in the next three innings.

Fatigued also hit Humber's offence, as Bulldog's pitcher Kierra Cromer kept them off balance all game long.  Cromer held the Hawks to two hits through seven innings, earning the complete game shutout.

Lauren Hollidge (Brampton) showed impressive plate discipline during the doubleheader as she reached based four times in six at-bats. 

The Hawks wrap up their South Carolina tour Saturday with a doubleheader against the University of South Carolina-Sumter at 10:00am and 12:00pm.