FLORENCE, SC – Junior outfielder Paige Strickland collected three hits and drove in four runs and junior shortstop Madalyn White clouted her first career grand slam as ninth-ranked Francis Marion University swept two games on Sunday (Feb. 23) to end the annual Swamp Fox Sizzler softball event.  FMU defeated St. Thomas Aquinas College 10-2 in five innings and then beat Wingate University 7-1.
 
Francis Marion improves to 14-2 and will next face Limestone University on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Gaffney, S.C.
 
Sophomore right-hander Abby Williams (2-0) picked up her second win in less than 24 hours with four strong innings against STAC.
 
White walked and scored in the first, hit her grand slam in the second, and singled in the fourth.  The long ball was only her second in 131 career games.
 
Strickland had two singles and two RBIs, while senior third baseman Peyton Gale singled and doubled, and junior outfielder Anderson Thrower had two hits and an RBI.  Senior Samantha Turnage contributed a two-run pinch-hit single in a four-run fourth frame that helped the Patriots later invoke the eight-run mercy rule.
 
Southpaw Sarah Clancy (0-2) was the losing pitcher for St. Thomas Aquinas.  The Spartans also lost to Wingate 7-1 in the day's middle contest.
 
In the last game of the day against Wingate, junior lefty Alyssa Poston (7-1) scattered 10 hits and allowed just one run while fanning two.
 
Senior left fielder Emily Knoz was hit by a pitch in the first, and later came around to score on a two-out fielding error by the Bulldogs.  The margin doubled to 2-0 when Thrower scored on a wild pitch in the second.
 
Wingate pushed across its run in the fifth to trim the margin to 2-1, but FMU plated five insurance runs in the sixth inning to account for the final margin.  Thrower singled home two runs, Strickland doubled in two, and junior designated hitter Kendal Miller drove in the final run with a single up the middle.
 
Wingate starter Hali Scott (2-3) held the Patriots hitless until two outs in the fourth.  However, she walked four and the Bulldogs committed four errors.
 
Francis Marion has won 26 of its last 28 home contests.

 
 
#9 Francis Marion Univ. 10, St. Thomas Aquinas 2 (Feb 23, 2025 at Florence, SC)
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St. Thomas Aquinas.. 002 00 -  2  6  0      (0-3)
Francis Marion Univ.. 150 4X - 10 10  1      (13-2)
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Pitchers: St. Thomas Aquinas - Clancy, Sarah; Liguori, Alyssa(4) and Leon, Olivia.
Francis Marion Univ. - Abby Williams; Aliyah Gibson(5) and Marlee McCormick.
Win-Abby Williams (2-0)  Loss-Clancy, Sarah (0-2)  T-1:15  A-100
HR FMU_SB - Madalyn White (1).
Weather: Clear, Sunny,55,Wind SE @ 1mph
 
 
#9 Francis Marion Univ. 7, Wingate University 1 (Feb 23, 2025 at Florence, SC)
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Wingate University.. 000 010 0 -  1 10  4      (7-9)
Francis Marion Univ. 110 005 X -  7  5  0      (14-2)
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Pitchers: Wingate University - Hali Scott; Lily Huneycutt(6) and Hannah Stevens.
Francis Marion Univ. - Alyssa Poston and Marlee McCormick.
Win-Alyssa Poston(7-1)  Loss-Hali Scott(2-3)  T-2:00  A-100
Weather: Sunny,63,Wind NE @ 6 mph