Murphy baseball wins, softball splits with Robbinsville
Murphy’s baseball and softball teams faced off against Smoky Mountain Conference opponents Robbinsville in a two-game series.
The baseball squad came out with a sweep, while the Lady Bulldogs’ softball team split games with the Lady Black Knights.
Baseball
In their first of two games, the Dogs defeated Robbinsville 4-3 on April 1.
Robbinsville opened the game with two runs in the first inning. They added one run in the third inning to lead 3-0 until the Dogs tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Murphy then took the lead with one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The game remained 4-3, but Robbinsville had a late rally that loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, the Dogs defense came up big and shut down the Knights to win.
The Dogs completed the sweep by defeated the Knights 9-4 on April 4.
After two scoreless innings to start the game, Robbinsville scored one run in the third inning and three more in the fourth to lead 4-0.
The Dogs got on the board with one run in the fifth inning. They followed it up with four runs in the sixth inning to take the late lead for the second game in a row.
The Dogs scored four runs in the top of the seventh to lead 9-4. They shut down the Knights again to complete the sweep.
Murphy advanced to 4-2 and third place in the conference at press time Tuesday.
Softball
The Lady Dogs split with Robbinsville last week, with each team winning their home game in the two-game series. On April 1, the Lady Dogs got a 10-5 win at home.
Robbinsville opened the game with one run in the top of the first. The Lady Dogs didn’t let that lead last long, as they added two runs in each of the first two innings to lead 4-1 through two
innings.
After a scoreless first inning, Robbinsville closed the gap with one run in the top of the fourth. They then scored three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.
Yet again, the Lady Dogs didn’t let the lead last long. Murphy scored three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth to lead 7-5 through the first five innings.
The Lady Dogs added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to lead 10-5. Murphy shut down the Lady Knights in the sixth and seventh innings to win.
In their second game of the week, the Lady Dogs traveled to Robbinsville and fell 5-4 on April 4.
After two scoreless innings to start the game, the Lady Dogs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Robbinsville then grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Lady Dogs tied the game with one run in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Knights scored one run to take the lead. Robbinsville then shut down the Dogs in the top of the seventh for the win.
The Lady Dogs sit in the fourth in the conference with a record of 2-3.
Up next
Following spring break, the Dogs baseball and softball teams will return to action Tuesday, April 15, on the road against in-county rivals Andrews.
They will play in Andrews on April 15 and in Murphy on Thursday, April 17. All of the games against Andrews are set for the first pitch at 4:30 p.m.