BANNER ELK, NC – Senior right fielder
Katie Smith, singled, doubled, homered, and drove in three runs to back the six-hit pitching of sophomore right-hander
Jenna Walling as Francis Marion University beat Lees-McRae College 9-2 and earned a split of Sunday's (Apr. 14) Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader. Lees-McRae won the first game 2-1.
Francis Marion (37-10, 16-4) will host the University of Mount Olive for a conference twinbill on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Walling (14-2) fanned five and walked three in the complete-game victory. She has won 34 of her 40 career decisions in less than two full seasons.
Following Smith, senior first baseman
Taylor Watford, junior second baseman
Peyton Gale, junior shortstop
Makayla Cuthbertson, and sophomore designated player
Anderson Thrower all registered two hits.
Run-scoring singles by freshman catcher
Marlee McCormick – her first collegiate hit – and Cuthbertson staked the Patriots to a 2-0 advantage in the second inning.
After the Bobcats scored once in the bottom of the second, FMU tallied three runs in the third to lead 5-1. Gale doubled home two runs and Smith laced an RBI-double.
Watford hit a solo homer in the fifth to up the margin to 6-1. Watford joined former Patriot outfielder
Danielle Karacson for fifth place on the FMU career home run list with 25, while joining former infielder Allie Aleman for seventh on the career RBI list with 127.
A sacrifice fly from junior left fielder
Emily Konz in the sixth and a two-run homer off Smith's bat in the seventh accounted for the final three runs.
In Sunday's opening game, FMU took a 1-0 advantage in the second inning when Gale pounded a lead-off home run.
The Bobcats (15-19, 10-8) knotted the score with a run in the third and took a 2-1 lead in fourth when Taylor Beurrier led-off with a solo homer. Francis Marion put two runners on base in the sixth inning, but could not push across the tying run.
Patriot sophomore southpaw
Alyssa Poston (21-4) was tagged with the tough-luck loss. She surrendered only four hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Lees-McRae's Lonna Addison limited FMU to two hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk.
FMU sophomore third baseman
Madalyn White had her streak of safely reaching base stopped at 29 consecutive games.
Lees-McRae 2, Francis Marion 1 (4/14/2024 at Banner Elk, N.C.) (Game 1)
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Francis Marion....... 010 000 0 - 1 3 0 (36-10, 15-4 CC)
Lees-McRae.......... 001 100 X - 2 4 2 (15-18, 10-7 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion -
Alyssa Poston and
Kendal Miller. Lees-McRae - Lonna Addison and
McKenzie Presson.
Win-Lonna Addison (12-11) Loss-
Alyssa Poston (21-4) T-1:22 A-73
HR FMU_SB -
Peyton Gale.
HR LMC - Taylor Beurrier.
Weather: 65 Degrees, Partly Cloudy
Francis Marion 9, Lees-McRae 2 (4/14/2024 at Banner Elk, N.C.) (Game 2)
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Francis Marion...... 023 011 2 - 9 14 1 (37-10, 16-4 CC)
Lees-McRae.......... 010 010 0 - 2 6 3 (15-19, 10-8 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion -
Jenna Walling and
Marlee McCormick. Lees-McRae - Logan Zephir;
Lonna Addison(3) and McKenzie Presson.
Win-
Jenna Walling (14-2) Loss-Logan Zephir (3-5) T-1:42
HR FMU_SB -
Taylor Watford;
Katie Smith.
HR LMC - McKenzie Presson.
Weather: 71 degrees, Sunny
