WILSON — Georgia Page carded a two-under-par 70 in the opening round to position the UNC Pembroke golf team in first place at the Barton Intercollegiate on Monday at the Wilson Country Club.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Page’s 70 in the first round marked a career-best for the redshirt senior, who currently leads the individual tournament. Amanda Hamrin (3 over par) sits in second place and is five strokes behind Page, while Hanne Sofie Borgen (10 over) is in a two-way tie for 14th place. Toni Blackwell (11 over) finished the opening day inside the top-20, while Samantha DeBusk (14 over) rounded out the scoring for the Braves in 23rdplace.

Chessa Lee (7 over), who is competing as an individual, logged a seven-over-par-79 to work her way into a five-way tie for 5th place. Elizabeth Ritchie (13 over), who is also competing as an individual, stayed just inside the top-20 with a first round total of 85.

The Braves will close out action at the Barton Intercollegiate on Tuesday at the Wilson Country Club.

Braves softball falls twice to West Chester

Visiting West Chester registered 25 hits across two games and limited the UNC Pembroke softball team to just 13 hits as the Golden Rams swept the Braves on Monday at the UNCP Softball Field. UNCP stranded 11 runners in the opening contest to fall 2-1, and dropped the back half of the doubleheader 13-4 fueled by a 19-hit performance from WCU.

Monday’s doubleheader marked the first meeting between the two teams, as the Braves (7-16) are now 6-9 when playing in Pembroke. The Golden Rams (7-4) have now won their last four contests.

In the doubleheader opener, Hailey Melvin doubled to left field to start the third inning and then advanced to third. Grace Aguilar beat out an infield single to score Melvin.

UNC Pembroke loaded the bases in the fourth via walks from Lauren Hilbourn and Olivia Hall, as well as an infield single from Marijo Wilkes. A patient at bat from Kaci Roberson drew a walk to knot the score at 1-1.

West Chester’s Olivia Mock found a gap in the outfield for a seventh-inning double and would score on a double to left field from Hailey Melvin.

Hilbourn had two hits and Cirstin Calloway and MaKenna Sibbett each had a double for UNCP in the opener. Madison Dyson (2-8) struck out 12 batters in seven innings for the Braves and took the loss.

Melvin had two doubles and an RBI, Aguilar had a hit with two walks and an RBI and Olivia Mock doubled. Samantha Klug (1-2) earned the win.

In the second game, West Chester put runners on first and second after a leadoff walk and a fielder’s choice. in the fifth inning Emma Zoldi smacked a single to right field to plate a pair of Golden Rams runners. Katelyn Rittenbaugh singled to left field to score Zoldi. Casey Best knocked an RBI single down the left field line, followed by a sacrifice fly to put West Chester ahead 11-2.

Samantha Allred had two hits, including a double, and an RBI for UNCP; Calloway and Kinsley Sheppard also had one hit and an RBI for the Braves. Summer Bullard (1-6) pitched four innings and struck out six, taking the loss.

Zoldi and Melvin each had three hits for West Chester, with Zoldi hitting a home run and earning four RBIs and Melvin knocking in two RBIs. Meg Wolfe had two hits with an RBI. Danielle Ciliberto (2-0) was the winning pitcher.

The Braves will begin Conference Carolinas play on Friday when they welcome Southern Wesleyan (2-16, 0-0 CC) to Pembroke for Alumni Weekend. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. at the UNCP Softball Field.