Lady Royals Battle Bryan to Doubleheader Split
KNOXVILLE, TN— The Lady Royals came away with a hard-fought doubleheader split against AAC rival Bryan College on Monday afternoon, taking Game 1 in a thrilling 1-0 shutout before falling 4-2 in Game 2.
In the opener, junior pitcher Lindy Webber dazzled, tossing a complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts and no walks across seven innings. Webber scattered six hits and kept the Lions off the board in a tense pitching duel.
The only run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth when Sloane Baldridge scored after getting on base with a walk and eventually crossing the plate thanks to heads-up baserunning and a timely Bryan miscue. Audrey Moorhouse also notched a hit and added a stolen base to fuel the Lady Royals' small-ball offense.
Bryan's Denver Hogrefe was strong in the circle for the visitors, going six innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three, but Webber's stellar outing sealed the win for Johnson.
Game 2 saw a reversal of fortunes as Bryan capitalized on key moments at the plate, including a two-run home run from Breanna Bumgardner in the fifth inning that proved to be the difference. Johnson had a chance to rally in the seventh, plating a run to make it 4-2, but couldn't complete the comeback.
Offensively, Baldridge and Moorhouse again led the way, each collecting two hits and combining for three stolen bases. Megan Armstrong and Autumn Caywood each recorded RBIs to keep the Royals within striking distance.
In the circle, Alyssa Nicely went the distance for Johnson, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while walking three.
After the game, head coach Dayna Carter praised the effort from both squads in what she called a day defined by resilience and competitiveness.
"Today was definitely just an absolute battle of two really good teams that came out and had to fight to the very end in both games," said Carter. "We had some good things happen in that first game, and then they had some timely hitting in the second game and took advantage of it. So, credit to both teams. They played hard. It just came out as a split."
The Lady Royals move to 22-9 (17-5) on the season and will look to carry the momentum from Game 1 into their next conference matchup later this week.