WILSON, NC – Senior first baseman
Taylor Watford drove in eight runs and junior shortstop
Makayla Cuthbertson registered five hits to lead Francis Marion University to a doubleheader sweep of Barton College, Tuesday afternoon (Apr. 2) in Conference Carolinas softball action. The Patriots won the opener 4-1 and the second contest 9-7.
Francis Marion, which led the other schools receiving votes in this week's NFCA Top 25 poll, improves to 31-8 overall and 10-2 in conference play. FMU will play host to local-rival UNC Pembroke for a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the latest installment of the Battle of I-95 series.
Game one was scoreless through the first five frames with each team registering only one hit.
Cuthbertson legged out a double to right centerfield to lead off the top of the sixth inning. Sophomore third baseman
Madalyn White put down a sacrifice bunt, but she reached on a throwing error by the pitcher Miranda Holmes, putting runners on the corners. White promptly stole second base. Junior left fielder
Emily Konz then laid down a safely squeeze bunt that plated Cuthbertson and gave the Patriots a 1-0 advantage. Watford drove home White with a hard grounder to second base.
Barton loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter in the bottom of the sixth, but Poston (17-3) stranded all three runners. The Hartsville native finished with a two-hitter, while fanning eight.
Patriot sophomore center fielder
Mikaela Goss drilled a two-out, two-run homer to left center in the top of the seventh to supply insurance runs. It was her third long ball of the season. The Bulldogs (16-16, 5-5) scored their lone run on a one-out grounder in the last of the seventh.
Holmes, this week's conference Pitcher of the Week, dropped to 12-6 despite allowing only five hits – three by Cuthbertson – and striking out 11.
In the second contest, Cuthbertson broke a scoreless deadlock with a solo homer down the right field line to open the third inning. Two batters later, Konz walked and was doubled home by Watford to stake FMU to a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 2-2.
Francis Marion responded with five two-out runs in the top of the fourth to assume a 7-2 advantage. Konz singled with the bases loaded to break the tie and Watford followed with a grand slam homer to left center – her ninth home run of the season.
A three-run homer by Barton's Gracelyn Massey trimmed the margin to 7-5 in the fifth, but Watford responded with a two-run double in the sixth to up the lead to 9-5.
Barton scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but FMU freshman right-hander
Abby Williams (2-3) held off the Bulldogs for the win. She scattered 10 hits and struck out fourin the complete-game effort.
Watford is now tied for eighth place on the all-time FMU home run list with 21 and is quickly approaching the Top 10 for RBIs (she now has 112 and is six shy) despite this only being her second year at Francis Marion.
Francis Marion 4, Barton 1 (Apr 02, 2024 at Wilson, N.C.) (Game 1)
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Francis Marion...... 000 002 2 - 4 5 0 (30-8, 9-2 CC)
Barton................... 000 000 1 - 1 2 1 (16-15, 5-4 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion -
Alyssa Poston and
Lauren Smallwood. Barton - Miranda Holmes and
Sydney Wade.
Win-
Alyssa Poston (17-3) Loss-Miranda Holmes (12-6) T-1:55 A-150
HR FMU_SB -
Mikaela Goss (3).
Weather: 70, partly cloudy
Francis Marion 9, Barton 7 (Apr 02, 2024 at Wilson, N.C.) (Game 2)
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Francis Marion...... 002 502 0 - 9 10 1 (31-8, 10-2 CC)
Barton................... 002 031 1 - 7 10 1 (16-16, 5-5 CC)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion -
Abby Williams and
Lauren Smallwood. Barton - Kerrigan Wonder;
Ali Bunch(2); Gracelyn Massey(3); Kierstin Cooper(5) and Sydney Wade.
Win-
Abby Williams (2-3) Loss-Kerrigan Wonder (0-6) T-2:00
HR FMU_SB -
Taylor Watford (9);
Makayla Cuthbertson (2).
HR BARTON - Gracelyn Massey (9).
Weather: 70, partly cloudy
