Wilmington University softball sweeps Florida Southern

SB FINAL (GM2) | #11 #WilmUSoftball 9 – Florida Southern 2. WU now 3-0. WP – Kylee Gunkel (2-0). WU with 16 hits in game 2. Taylor Gillis with 3 hits, 2 BB. Bella Barnes goes 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. Sam Freeland, Lexi Moore, Haley Downin, and Julia Thuer with 2 hits each.

— Wilmington Wildcats (@WilmUAthletics) February 28, 2024

Wilmington University leads by one after the first inning. 

The Wildcats would waste no time getting on the scoreboard in the second game of the doubleheader, as senior pitcher/second baseman Haley Downin would hit an RBI single to first base to get her team a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats adds another run in the third inning. 

Two innings later, junior catcher Bella Barnes would push WilmU’s edge to 2-0 when she had an RBI sac fly in the top of the third. 

WilmU holds a three-run lead after five innings. 

Florida Southern would finally get on the board in this game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Skyler Ralstin hit a two-out RBI triple to cut the score to 2-1.

Wilmington would answer back in the top of the fifth inning when the team scored two runs on one hit to grab a 4-1 advantage.

After two walks and a strikeout to start the inning, Tristyn Stewart would come up to the plate and hit an RBI single up the middle to expand the Cats’ lead to 3-1.

Graduate student infielder Sam Freeland would follow up Stewart’s score with an RBI Sac fly to push her team’s edge to 4-1.

Wilmington University takes home a 9-2 victory!

Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth inning, where Taylor Thomas would slap an RBI single to left field to slice the deficit to 4-2.

WilmU would respond in a big way in the top of the seventh inning, as the team scored five runs on five hits to seal a 9-2 victory.

Sophomore Cassidy Zelano, Freeland, and senior third baseman Lexi Moore would all score on different wild pitches in the inning. 

Bella Barnes would push in the last two runs as she hit a two-RBI double down the left-field line. 

Pitching Recap:

Junior starting pitcher Kylee Gunkel threw a complete game in the victory, as she went seven innings and gave up eight hits, two runs, two earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.