The Francis Marion University offense exploded for 26 hits and
23 runs to sweep a pair of games on the final day of the Early Bird
Tournament, Sunday (Feb. 7) in Aiken, S.C. FMU beat Chowan
University 9-1 in six innings and Barton College 14-0 in five
innings.
The Patriots improve to 3-1 and will open Peach Belt Conference
play on Saturday (Feb. 13) when they host Georgia Southwestern
State University for a 12 noon doubleheader.
In the first game against Chowan, junior Chelle Phillips and
senior Kat Beauvais both rapped out three hits and drove in a run.
Sophomore outfielder Destinea Schneider was 2-for-4 with a run
scored and an RBI and senior left-handed pitcher Michaela Wolf was
2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Wolf allowed only two hits and a first-inning unearned run in
five innings to pick up the win.
Back-to-back solo home runs by freshman Meghan Heiser and
Beauvais gave FMU a 3-1 advantage in the second inning.
In the second contest against Barton, the Patriots scored 10
runs in the top of the third inning.
Five Patriots recorded two hits: Schneider 2-for-4 with two runs
scored and an RBI; Phillips 2-fo-3 with three runs scored and two
RBIs; Ashley Jaramillo 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs;
Jessica Birchmeier 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI; and
Beauvais 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Wolf (3-0) pitched two scoreless frames to start the game before
giving way to junior righty Cea Knox. The pair combined to
limit Barton to only three hits.
