DUNCAN, SC – Graduate student catcher Reagan Glanz led off the ninth inning with a solo home run and later added a run-scoring single in the same frame to help lift Francis Marion University to a 10-4 victory over top-seeded King University (Tenn.), Monday afternoon (May 1) in the championship game of the 2023 Conference Carolinas Softball Tournament.
 
Francis Marion (41-11) captures the first-ever conference title of any type since the program moved to NCAA affiliation in 1992.  The Patriots earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and will play in the Southeast Regional May 12-14.  The selection show is slated for Monday, May 8, at 10 a.m.
 
Senior right-hander Rachel Davis (18-8) won her fourth game in four days and earned tournament Most Valuable Player recognition.  She tossed a career-high nine innings in the complete-game effort, allowing only one earned run on eight hits with six strikeouts.
 
Senior first baseman Taylor Watford and sophomore center fielder Avery Bellai led FMU at the plate with three hits apiece, while Glanz and freshman third baseman Madalyn White both finished with two hits. Watford, who celebrated her birthday on Monday, had two doubles and drove in five runs.
 
Knotted at 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Glanz led off with a towering home run to left off southpaw Savana Luper (13-6).  Infield hits by junior pinch hitter Katie Smith and Bellai and a throwing error on a fielder's choice grounder plated a second run.  Following a ground out, Watford ripped a two-run double just inside the third base bag to increase the FMU margin to 8-4.  Senior designated player Savana Rosson and Glanz closed out the scoring with RBI-singles.
 
In the bottom of the inning, a leadoff walk was erased on a double play grounder and Davis induced a ground out to second base to end the game and set off a wild celebration in the infield.
 
Catcher Maggie Deel led King at the plate with a trio of hits.
 
FMU threatened early when White lifted a one-out double to left center in the top of the first.  Watford was then robbed of extra bases on a leaping catch by Jessica Campbell at the center field fence.
 
FMU broke-up a scoreless tie with a three-run top of the third inning.  Three infield singles that didn't get past the pitching circle loaded the bases for the Patriots.  White plated the first run with an RBI-ground out to shortstop, and Watford followed with a two-run single to right center.  The outburst could have been bigger, but Campbell made a running catch in right center to take extra bases away from Rosson and likely saved two runs and ended the inning.
 
Davis maneuvered around four King baserunners over the first three innings, but kept the Tornado off the scoreboard.
 
King did finally plate an unearned run in the fourth, but it could have been worse for FMU.  A bases-loaded single through the right side by shortstop Camryn Haag drove in the run, but a strong throw from freshman right fielder Paige Strickland caught a second runner caught in a run down between third and home and was eventually tagged out.  Davis then induced a ground out to second to end the frame.
 
The Patriots got that run back in the top of the fifth.  White laid down a bunt single that died on the first-base line caulk.  Watford then lined a double to the left center field gap scoring White and reinstituting the three-run advantage (4-1).
 
King trimmed the deficit to 4-2 with an unearned run in the sixth.  FMU was two outs away from the championship in the bottom of the seventh, but an error and a two-run homer by first baseman Carly Turner – a ball that tipped off the glove of Bellai at the center field fence – tied the game at 4-4 and forced extra innings.
 
The championship game did not use the international tiebreaker rule of placing a runner on second base.  Therefore, in the eighth, the Patriots were retired in order.  King put runners on the corners with two outs, but Davis fanned Tori Ryan to end the threat.
 
Joining Davis on the All-Tournament Team was Bellai, Taylor, and senior left fielder Danielle Karacson.
 
FMU senior second baseman Megan Matsil had her 21-game hitting streak snapped, but was hit by a pitch to extend her streak of safely reaching base to 32 contests. 
 
The team's 41 wins is second most in program history and the Patriots will be making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and second in two years.

 
 
Francis Marion 10, King University 4 (May 01, 2023 at Duncan, S.C.)
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Francis Marion...... 003 010 006  - 10 15  3      (41-11)
King University..... 000 101 200  -  4  8  1      (35-22)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion - Rachel Davis and Reagan Glanz. King University - Madison Walter;
Savana Luper(4) and Maggie Deel.
Win-Rachel Davis (18-8)  Loss-Savana Luper (13-6)  T-2:33  A-109
HR FMU_SB - Reagan Glanz (3).
HR KING - Carly Turner (4).
Weather: 56, sunny, wind to CF @ 16mph