FLORENCE, S.C. – Sophomore right fielder Heidi Gibbs collected five hits and drove in the winning run in the ninth inning to give 19th-ranked USC Upstate a wild 12-10 win over Francis Marion University in the second game of Wednesday’s (March 14) Peach Belt Conference softball doubleheader. FMU freshman left-hander Michaela Wolf tossed a six-hit shutout in game one as the Patriots prevailed 6-0.

Francis Marion and USC Upstate remain tied in the PBC standings at 7-3, while the Patriots are 24-6 overall, after having their 11-game winning streak stopped in game two. The Spartans are 19-6. Both teams will play in USC Upstate’s South Carolina Fast Pitch Classic this weekend in Spartanburg.

Wolf (17-4) got the decisions in both games for Francis Marion, throwing 169 pitches in the second game alone.

Junior Monica Wofford paced FMU in the opener with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batter Shannan Tyson was 3-for-4 and Jenna Sexton, Janine Allen, and Kat Beauvais all had two hits.

Catcher Vanesa Flores and shortstop Baillie Denson each had two hits for the Spartans in game one. Gibbs, a product of West Florence High School, was 1-for-4 to finish the day with six base hits.

Brittany Rice (5-4) was the losing pitcher in game one.

In the wild second contest, USC Upstate wasted a 7-0 advantage after four innings as FMU plated seven runs in the fifth frame. Helped by home runs from Flores and Denson, the Spartans regained the lead 10-7 in the sixth inning. Francis Marion again tied the contest with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, two coming on a pinch-hit, two-run double by Serena Lim. However, the Patriots put runners on second and third with no outs and were unable to push across the winning score.

After a scoreless eighth, USC Upstate got RBI singles from Gibbs and Amber Patterson in the top of the ninth. FMU put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the frame, but Allie Aleman’s long drive to right field was caught to end the game.

Emily Jeffery (6-1) earned the win in relief for USC Upstate. In addition to Gibbs’ five hits, Patterson was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and Denson was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Flores had a pair of hits and drove in three runs.

Right fielder Stevie Arrand led FMU with a 3-for-5 game and that included three runs batted in. Aleman drove in three runs with a fifth-inning double. Both Allen and Wolf also had two hits and drove in one run.