BRISTOL, TN – In a rematch of last year's Conference Carolinas Tournament championship game, King University swept two games from Francis Marion University, winning 10-2 and 9-4 on Friday afternoon (Mar. 24) in softball action.
 
Francis Marion (25-7, 5-3) will continue its weekend road trip with a doubleheader at Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 1 p.m. (PLEASE note the start time has been pushed back an hour from noon to 1 p.m. because of weather concerns).
 
In Friday's opener, FMU freshman righty Jenna Walling (13-2) suffered just her second loss as a collegiate as she allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits with four strikeouts in three innings.  Freshman right-hander Jordan Rivera recorded the final five outs.
 
Junior shortstop Makayla Cuthbertson led FMU at the plate with a pair of hits, a run scored, and an RBI.   Freshman third baseman Madalyn White went 1-for-2 extending her streak of safely reaching base to 31 games, a streak that would end in the second game of the twinbill.
 
Francis Marion took a 1-0 lead in the first when Cuthbertson singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third, and crossed home on an RBI-ground out by senior left fielder Danielle Karacson.
 
King (17-12, 5-1) responded immediately with three runs in the bottom of the inning and then plated three more in the third.  Trailing 7-1 in the fifth, FMU got a run back when Cuthbertson singled home junior right fielder Katie Smith.
 
Madison Walter (5-3) registered the game-one win for King.  She fanned five and did not walk a batter.  King was voted as the preseason co-favorite to win the 2023 crown.
 
In the second contest, FMU took advantage of a King throwing error to plate an unearned run in the second.  Senior designated player Savana Rosson reached on the miscue, and her pinch runner, freshman Anderson Thrower, later scored on a two-out RBI single to left centerfield by graduate student catcher Reagan Glanz.
 
The margin doubled to 2-0 in the fourth as senior first baseman Taylor Watson led off with a double.  One out later, senior second baseman Megan Matsil drilled a run-scoring single back up the middle to plate pinch runner Jayla King.
 
King responded immediately with six runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Right fielder Haylee Dye led off with a solo homer to left center.  A sacrifice fly would knot the score, before the go-ahead run scored on a two-out error by the Patriots, and second baseman Lauren Lawson capped the inning with a three-run homer.
 
A solo home run by Watford in the sixth, her seventh long ball of the year, trimmed the margin to 6-3, but King tallied three in the bottom of the inning to go up 9-3.  A two-out RBI-single by Karacson in the seventh accounted for the final FMU run.
 
Watford finished the second contest with three hits and a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, while Karacson and Matsil both recorded two hits.
 
Senior righty Rachel Davis (11-5) was the hard-luck loser as five of the nine runs scored on her were unearned.  She struck out two and did not issue a walk.  
 
Senior right-hander Nikole Counts (1-6) was the winning pitcher as she recorded a complete game.
 
 
King University 10, Francis Marion 2 (Mar 24, 2023 at Bristol, Tenn.) (Game 1)
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Francis Marion...... 100 01 -  2  6  4      (25-6, 5-2 CC)
King University..... 303 13 - 10 11  0      (16-12, 4-1 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion - Jenna Walling; Jordan Rivera(4) and Lauren Smallwood; Reagan Glanz.
King University - Madison Walter and Maggie Deel.
Win-Madison Walter (5-3)  Loss-Jenna Walling (13-2)  T-1:30
Weather: Sunny/Windy

 
King University 9, Francis Marion 4 (Mar 24, 2023 at Bristol, Tenn.) (Game 2)
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Francis Marion...... 010 101 1 -  4  9  3    (25-7, 5-3 CC)
King University..... 000 603 X -  9  9  2     (17-12, 5-1 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion - Rachel Davis and Reagan Glanz. King University - Nikole Counts and
Maggie Deel.
WP-Nikole Counts (1-6) LP-Rachel Davis (11-5)  T- 1:30
HR FMU_SB - Taylor Watford.
HR KING - Haylee Dye; Lauren Lawson.
Weather: 63, windy