Dunlap Breaks RBI Record In Softball Sweep Of Furman
Stephanie Dunlap now owns the school record in RBI as well as home runs. |
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April 17, 2002
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Stephanie Dunlap broke the school record for career runs batted in as the Charlotte 49ers softball team won a pair of games against Furman Wednesday at the Phillips Sports Complex. The 49ers took game one, 15-7 before completing the sweep with an 8-3 win in game two.
Charlotte (20-24) jumped out to a big lead early in both games. In the first game, the 49ers plated seven runs in the first to take a 7-1 lead. Each of the first nine batters reached base, including seven with hits. Leah Heston started the eruption with a double that drove in Kristy Constantino, Kiley Scott and Dunlap. The Niners upped the score to 13-1 by the fifth inning, scoring twice in the second, third and fourth innings. Dunlap capped the run, delivering a single to left that drove in Chelsie Parrish.
Furman (15-19) rallied in the fifth, however, scoring six runs to pull within 13-7. Kate Morrison came up with the big hit for the Paladins, hitting a single to center that scored Karen Myers and LaKerah Barr. Charlotte answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth and ended the game in the sixth, when Dunlap drove in Constantino to provide the eight-run margin. Dunlap and Heston went a combined 8-for-8 with six runs and six RBI. Betsy Thompson earned the win, allowing one hit in four innings, to improve to 10-11. Rachel Henley took the loss and fell to 8-8.
In game two, the 49ers scored four runs in the first to take a 4-1 lead. Heston put the Niners on the board with a fielder's choice that drove in Constantino, who reached on a hit. She finished the second game 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Scott gave the team a 2-1 lead a short time later, scoring from third on a wild pitch. Lynne LaPorte delivered a single to drive in Heston and eventually came home on a Nora Petrie single combined with a error by JoDee Eichelberger. After trading runs with Furman in the third, Charlotte took a 7-2 lead in the fourth with a Scott triple to right center, scoring Kristin White and Constantino. The teams traded runs again in the sixth, when Dunlap broke the RBI record with a single to left center to score Constantino, before Dana Bowers pitched a scoreless seventh to seal the win.
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Dunlap now has 104 career RBI. She is just the second member of the 49ers to top the century mark, joining Janine Repole, who finished with 103 from 1996-99. Earlier this season, she became the school's career home runs leader and enters the weekend with 18. Her seven home runs this season tie match her own school record, which she set as a freshman in 1999.
The 49ers will remain in town this weekend, hosting a three-game series with C-USA foe East Carolina. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday with the series finale scheduled for Sunday. Both days' games begin at 1:00. Admission is free.
