Wood's 7th-inning homer lifts Princeton on the road

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on April 29, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- As top teams often do, Spring Creek and Princeton made a habit of playing close games on the softball field.

Tuesday afternoon was no exception.

Hailey Wood hit a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie as Princeton defeated Spring Creek 5-2 in their Carolina 1-A Conference game. The Bulldogs swept the regular-season series from the Gators.

Wood, who went 1-4 on the night, was equally impressive in the pitcher's circle. She relieved Bulldogs starter Beth Braswell, who struggled to get out of the first inning. Braswell allowed two runs on three hits and struck out before moving over to first base to start the second inning.

Wood threw six innings of shutout ball, gave up five hits and struck out nine Gators. Her mettle showed most in the bottom of the fifth when Spring Creek loaded the bases with no outs. Facing the heart of the Gators' order, Wood registered three outs on seven pitches to escape the inning unscathed.

"She does well when she needs to," Princeton head coach Terry Braswell said. "She's good at stepping up and playing."

Despite her dominance in the pitcher's circle, Wood will likely remember the tie-breaking, towering home run to center field in the top of the seventh inning.

"I knew (Spring Creek pitcher Rachel McCollum) was going to throw me a change up, because their coaches somewhat know my weaknesses when it comes to hitting," Wood said. "I just had to wait back and hit it."

Second baseman Logan Pace knocked in two runs on an RBI triple in the second inning. Princeton earned its second straight road win over a top-tier Carolina Conference team after shutting out Rosewood 7-0 on Monday.

"Oh, this is big," Braswell said. "I was worried about (Spring Creek) and with good reason -- they're a good team. They're making good progress."

With back-to-back noteworthy wins in a little over 24 hours, Wood thinks Bulldogs are finally hitting their stride -- a scary concept for other 1-A teams.

"It was a big game," she said. "Coming off a great win yesterday, we just had to not get complacent and keep playing hard."

The loss left Spring Creek littered with "what-ifs." The Gators had their chances -- the best coming in the bottom of the fifth inning with runners in scoring position.

McCollum took the loss. The right-hander gave up five runs on eight hits, struck out four and walked two. She hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Teammate Ashley Marriner batted 2-for-4 with a run scored.