Jones (4-0) set a career-high in strikeouts for her second consecutive outing, fanning eight Lady Broncos in the opener. The Huntersville, N.C., resident surrendered four hits and one earned run, and did not walk a batter.
Hearp (3-1), a resident of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., took a perfect game into fifth inning of game two before settling for a two-hit shutout in a game called due to darkness after Fayetteville State batted in the top of the sixth.
Senior Megan Kelly and freshman Taylor Martin paced the Barton offense with three hits each on the day. Kelly’s hits included a two-run homer in game one and a triple in game two that set up the Lady Bulldogs’ first run.
With the sweep, Barton improved to 8-6 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs are now 6-0 at home so far this year, having swept a trio of Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association foes. Fayetteville State dropped to 4-6 on the season.
Game 1: Barton 4, Fayetteville State 2
Two Barton fielding errors in the first inning of game one set Fayetteville State up for a big start to the day. The Lady Broncos did get one unearned run on a two-out single up the middle by HaLee Knowles, but Jones recorded a strikeout to end the inning and strand two other FSU runners on base.
Brittany Jacobs singled to lead off the Barton second inning and later scored on a fielder’s choice bunt by Sydney Speight to tie the game at 1-all. Makayla Meeks, who had reached base on a Fayetteville State error, later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Morgan Pedley, putting BC into the lead, 2-1. Kelly followed by drilling a 1-0 pitch from FSU’s Zoe Howard (1-1) over the fence in center field for a two-run blast that put the Lady Bulldogs up 4-1.
After escaping the first-inning jam, Jones allowed just one Fayetteville State baserunner over the next four innings. The Broncos finally found some offense in the sixth, getting a leadoff single from Carley Green, a hit batsman and a single from Maggie Smith to load the bases with one out. Courtney Pierre drove in one run with a sacrifice fly to left, but Jones again came up with an inning-ending strikeout to strand a pair of runners on base.
Four different players accounted for FSU’s four hits. Kelly and Martin each had two of Barton’s seven hits in the contest off Howard, who walked three and struck out one.
Game 2: Barton 2, Fayetteville State 0 (6 inn.)
Neither team produced a baserunner until Martin and Jacobs produced back-to-back singles to open the Barton second inning. Both runners reached scoring position on an FSU error, but Fayetteville State pitcher Kyrin Walker (1-4) worked her way out of the inning without giving up a run.
The Lady Bulldogs did score in the third, however. With one out, Kelly ripped a triple to the fence in center. Jones followed with a fly ball to shallow center on which Kelly tagged to come home. The throw from centerfielder Ivory Gladden beat Kelly to the plate, but Kelly slid around and under the tag of the FSU catcher to put Barton on the board.
One inning later, Barton took advantage of a Fayetteville State fielding error to set up an insurance run on an RBI single to left by Santmyers.
Hearp, who tossed a five-inning no-hitter in her collegiate debut earlier in the month, flirted with another one against the Lady Broncos, retiring the first 12 batters in order. However, Knowles ended both the perfect game and the no-hitter with a sharp single to center to open the FSU fifth.
Two batters later, Fayetteville State collected another single on a perfectly placed bunt by Walker. Knowles reached second on the play and moved to third on a fielder’s choice, but Hearp used a lineout to third to escape the inning with the shutout intact.
After Hearp retired the side in order in the FSU sixth, the umpires called the game due to darkness at Jeffries Field.
Six players had one hit each for Barton off Walker, who walked one and struck out a pair.
Barton will visit Methodist University on Wednesday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader before heading to Cary, N.C., next weekend for the Shaw University Softball Challenge.
