WISE – Senior Raychel Lapallo and sophomore McKenna Falwell each earned a five-inning run-rule complete game shutout victory against King University (Tenn.) Tuesday afternoon at Cavalier Field. A trio of home runs in game one, including senior Kaylee Jones' grand slam, aided UVA Wise to an 11-0 victory while the Cavs took game two, 8-0.
Lapallo compiled six of her nine strike outs in the first two innings of the first game against the Tornado (14-8). Freshman Sarah Barrett started the attack for UVA Wise (8-13-1) with a leadoff single up the middle. Jones' scored Barrett later on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 edge over King.
Falwell led the home half of the second with a single to second base but three straight outs would leave her on base at the end of the frame as UVA Wise still led by one run.
Three consecutive singles for UVA Wise in the third frame loaded the bases as Jones blasted a grand slam to push the Cavs lead to 5-0. UVA Wise plated two more in the bottom of the third to extend the advantage to 7-0 heading into the top of the fourth.
King managed to put two runners on base in the fourth inning, but would not be able to push across a run.
A pair of two-run blasts off the bat of freshman Jenna McDermott and senior Alexis Miles drove home four more for UVA Wise as the Cavs recorded a trio of groundouts to complete the shutout in five innings.
Seven players recorded a hit for the Cavs led by Barrett, McDermott, and Long who each recorded two in the game.
Lapallo (4-5) yielded just three hits and fanned nine across five innings of work.
King's Nikole Counts (8-3) scattered seven hits and struck out two in three innings in the circle.
In the second game of the day, senior Katie Russell finished going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate as she added two runs and drove in six.
The Tornado recorded a two-out base hit in the top of the first, but a pop up to the shortstop left one on for King.
UVA Wise put two runs on the board in the bottom of the second as Russell singled down the left field line to plate freshman Kara Long and Falwell.
King registered back-to-back hits in the top of the fourth to put runners in scoring position with two outs but would not be able to drive in a run as the Tornado continued to trail.
Russell's bomb to center field pushed across two more for UVA Wise to extend the margin to 4-0 into the fifth frame.
UVA Wise used a four-run inning to secure the game two shutout in the bottom of the fifth. A walk and wild pitch put Jones on second as Miles drew a walk before both advanced another base on a wild pitch. Falwell's sacrifice fly on the next at bat scored Jones followed by a double to left center off the bat of Russell to plate Long and Miles as the catcher advanced to third.
Pinch hitting for freshman Madison Milne, sophomore Riley Hunt used another sacrifice fly to center field to send Russell home and claim the second shutout of the day in walk-off fashion.
Long tacked on two hits and three runs for the Cavs in the victory. Falwell (4-6) picked up the win as she struck out three and allowed four hits in a complete game effort.
King's Carly Turner (4-4) suffered the loss as she scattered six hits and struck out a pair across four inning of work.
Softball jumps back into conference play this weekend as the Cavs travel to North Carolina to face Lenoir-Rhyne University. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. in Hickory.
