Box Score MURFREESBORO, NC- The Chowan University softball team dropped a pair of nonconference games on Tuesday afternoon to Wilmington University.  The Hawks slip to 10-24 with the losses while the Wildcats improve to 11-13 on the year.  Wilmington took the first game 5-2 before edging the Hawks 4-3 in international tiebreaker in the nightcap.
 
The Hawks struck early in the first contest.  Liz Hipple's RBI double on the left field line allowed Courtney Groce to score in the bottom of the second, giving Chowan a 1-0 advantage.  Wilmington answered in the top of the fourth with three runs using an RBI double, sacrifice fly and RBI single to take a 3-1 lead. 
 
The Wildcats tacked on an additional run in the top of the fifth using Ashley Bennett's sacrifice fly to left. Courtney Baker's base hit to right in the home half of the frame cut the deficit but Wilmington scored in the top of the seventh before clinching the 5-2 victory in game one.
 
Hipple paced the Hawks at the plate with two hits in the loss.  Baker, Chandler Bridges, Groce, and White each tallied hits for the Hawks.  Groce suffered the loss on the mound.  She scattered 11 hits over the course of seven innings while striking out two Wildcat batters. 
 
Miranda Pedersen led the effort for Wilmington with three hits in the win.  Jen Fischbach and Cambria Ziemba collected two hits apiece. 
 
The Wildcats got on the board in the top of the first when Kelsey Doherty scored on a passed ball.  Brooke Lachette hit a two-run single to left in the top of the third resulting in a 3-0 advantage for Wilmington.  Alora Lincoln shut down the Wildcats from there, holding them scoreless through regulation.
 
Jack Byrd hit a two-run single through the right side in the bottom of the fifth to give the Hawks momentum and a Wildcat error tied the game 3-3.  Both teams failed to score over the course of the next two innings, forcing the game into international tiebreaker. 
 
Michelle Panasiti's RBI single gave the Wildcats the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth.  The Hawks were unable to score in their half of the frame, resulting in the 4-3 setback. 
 
Alora Lincoln took the loss on the mound.  She held Wilmington to six hits over eight innings of work while collecting six strikeouts.  Sarris earned both wins for the Wildcats on Tuesday. 
 
White and Byrd each tallied two hits in the nightcap for the Hawks.  Byrd also had two RBI in the loss. 
 
Chowan returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Petersburg, VA for a CIAA Northern Division match-up against Virginia State University.  First pitch is slated for 2:00pm.