SALISBURY, NC -- Francis Marion University swept a softball doubleheader from host Catawba College on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 24) at Whitley Field. The Patriots won by the scores of 9-1 and 7-2 to improve to 12-4 on the season. The Indians fall to 8-4.
The Patriots pounded out 16 hits in winning the opener. Francis Marion took the lead in the second inning with a four-run outburst which was capped by a three-run homer by senior Monica Wofford, her third round-tripper of the year. She added another homer in the seventh, giving her four on the season and 21 RBIs in 16 games, while collecting four hits in the opener. Melanie Bisek had three hits.
That was enough support for sophomore southpaw Michaela Wolf (9-2), who allowed just four hits and one unearned run with six strikeouts.
Kathryn Geouge drove home the lone run for Catawba in the fifth.
Catawba led 2-1 after three innings of game two. Geouge scored in the first after singling and stealing second when Jessie Whitesides’ single to right was misplayed. Geouge scored in the third on a wild pitch.
Francis Marion tied the game in the fourth on single by Bisek, and then broke the game open in the fifth when it scored five times with two outs. Left-handed hitting Jessica Birchmeier broke the deadlock with a two-run double on a 3-2 pitch. Senior infielder Allie Aleman, Bisek and Wolf each followed with run-scoring singles.
Bisek and Wofford each added two more hits in the nightcap. Bisek (2-1) also picked up the win with a complete-game effort, scattering eight hits and allowed one earned run.
Geouge and Whitesides each had three hits for Catawba in game two.
FMU entertains Augusta State University on Wednesday at 2 p.m in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader.
