FLORENCE, SC – Five seniors playing their final home games at Francis Marion University helped propel the 24th-ranked Patriots to a sweep of Barton College, Saturday afternoon (Apr. 20) in Conference Carolinas softball action. FMU won the opener 4-0 and the second game 9-0 in five innings.
Francis Marion, now 41-10, set a program record for regular-season wins, and is only one victory shy of the school mark for wins in season. The Patriots finish conference play 20-4, win the East Division title, and will be the No.1 seed in this week's conference tournament.
FMU will play at 5 p.m. on Thursday against an opponent yet to be determined at Tyger River Park in Duncan, S.C. The event runs from Thursday through Sunday.
Prior to the game, the team honored five seniors – shortstop
Makayla Cuthbertson, utility player
Elisabeth Raby, catcher
Lauren Smallwood, right fielder
Katie Smith, and first baseball
Taylor Watford – and all would play a role in the sweep.
In game one, sophomore left-handed pitcher
Alyssa Poston (23-4) tossed a three-hitter. She fanned nine batters and did not issue a walk. The Hartsville native is now second in NCAA Division II for pitching wins. Her 23 victories is the third highest season total in team history, trailing only Melissa Moyers (31-3 in 1987) and Michaela Wolf (29-13 in 2008).
Barton senior right-hander Miranda Holmes (19-10), who leads Division II in total strikeouts by a wide margin, started both games and was saddled with two losses.
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener when junior left fielder
Emily Konz walked with two outs. On a hit-and-run, she scored all the way from first base on a single through the vacated shortstop's spot by Watford. Watford finished the day with five runs batted in and regains the national lead with 73 RBIs.
The next batter, junior second baseman
Peyton Gale, doubled home Watford to up the margin to 4-0.
Cuthbertson led off the fifth inning with a towering home run over the right field wall, and three batters later Watford concluded the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left.
In the second game, sophomore righty
Jenna Walling (16-2) tossed four scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three. Poston pitched a scoreless fifth frame to conclude the shutout.
Walling now, 36-6 in two seasons, moved into a tie for ninth place on the Patriot career wins list.
Watford and Smith both had two hits in the second contest (and three on the day for both), with Watford driving in three runs and Smith one.
FMU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Watford drove a run-scoring single back up the middle and Smallwood drilled a three-run double as the Patriots sent 10 batters to the plate in the opening inning.
A five-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth helped FMU invoke the eight-run mercy rule in the following inning. Sophomore designated player
Anderson Thrower scored on a wild pitch, Watford doubled home two runs, Gale hit an RBI-double off the top of the right centerfield wall, and Smith singled up the middle to score Raby.
Smith and Smallwood, both four-year seniors, have been a part of 127 wins over the past four seasons. Watford moved into fifth place on the school's career RBIs list with 132, passing former Patriot greats Janine Allen and Kristi Anderson.
The two wins also upped Patriot head coach
Stacey Vallee's 20-year victory total to 594.
#24 Francis Marion Univ. 4, Barton College 0 (Apr 20, 2024 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
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Barton College......... 000 000 0 - 0 3 2 (24-21, 19-4 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 002 020 X - 4 6 0 (40-10, 13-10 CC)
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Pitchers: Barton College - Miranda Holmes; Kierstin Cooper(4) and Sydney Wade.
Francis Marion Univ. -
Alyssa Poston and
Lauren Smallwood.
Win-
Alyssa Poston(23-4) Loss-Miranda Holmes(19-9) T-1:39 A-165
HR FMU_SB -
Makayla Cuthbertson (3).
Weather: Hazy,80, Wind SW @ 5 mph
#24 Francis Marion Univ. 9, Barton College 0 (Apr 20, 2024 at Florence, SC) (Game 2)
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Barton College......... 000 00 - 0 1 1 (24-22, 13-11 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 400 5X - 9 10 1 (41-10, 20-4 CC)
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Pitchers: Barton College - Miranda Holmes; Ali Bunch(4); Kierstin Cooper(4) and Sydney Wade.
Francis Marion Univ. -
Jenna Walling;
Alyssa Poston(5) and
Lauren Smallwood.
Win-
Jenna Walling(16-2) Loss-Miranda Holmes(19-10) T-1:26 A-0
Weather: Mostly Sunny,86,Wind E @ 4 mph
M. Holmes faced 2 batters in the 4th.
