MIONT HILL, NC – On Monday May 1st, Independence and Butler who was unbeaten in the SW4A Conference entering the ballgame squared off at the Patriots home field. Butler took a quick 2-0 lead in their first two at bats.

In the first inning Peyton Bowar drew a base-on-balls to deliver the first run with the bases

loaded and two outs on a full count. Butler added a second run in the top of the 2nd inning. However, Indy scored 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning when Natalie Johnson drilled a base hit with the bases full to even the score at 2-2.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Morgan Clark singled to drive in a run to give Indy a 3-2 lead. However, the heavy damage all occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Patriots Kimber Mulkey singled, Emma Wrenn singled, Sarah Johnson doubled, and Natalie Johnson drove in the final run on a sharp grounder to deep shortstop scoring the base runner from third.

Indy starter Maliyah Alexander went the distance to pick up the win. She allowed only 2 earned runs on 144 pitches while striking out five and walking four batters. While Butler’s Ashlynne Forrest allowed 8 runs on 120 pitches in six innings of work to take the loss.

Sarah Johnson went 1 for 1 with 3 walks and 3 RBI’s. Natalie Johnson 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, and Emma Wrenn 1 for 1 with 2 RBI’s to lead the Patriot charge.

While the Butler offense was led by Cherie Carter, Abby Greig, and Bower who all had multiple hits for the visiting Bulldogs.

Indy will play the Providence Panthers on Thursday at home and will need a victory to keep pace with the still first-place Bulldogs. A victory over Providence will force a playoff Conference Championship match-up between the Mint Hill-Matthews rivals.