FLORENCE, SC – Lead-off batter Madalyn White registered five hits and scored four times, while junior outfielder Paige Strickland homered in both games as ninth-ranked Francis Marion University swept two games on the opening day of the Swamp Sizzler Softball Tournament on Saturday (Feb. 22).  FMU defeated Wingate University 4-0 and doubled up on St. Thomas Aquinas College 10-5.
 
Wingate edged St. Thomas Aquinas 5-3 in the third game of the day.
 
The three squads will return to the FMU Softball Stadium for the final day of the event on Sunday.  FMU, now 12-2, will face STAC at 11 a.m. and Wingate will play STAC at 1 p.m.  The Patriots will battle Wingate at 3 p.m. in the final contest.  Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students with FMU students being admitted free with identification.
 
Junior left-hander Alyssa Poston (6-1) allowed only a pair of singles in the blanking of Wingate (6-8).  She struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
 
Strickland snapped a 0-0 deadlock with a solo shot to center field with one out in the fourth.
 
The Patriots plated three insurance runs in the fifth as senior third baseman Peyton Gale drove an RBI-single to left, Konz scored on a throwing error, and junior first baseman Tallulah Civoniceva hit a sacrifice fly.
 
White finished the opener with three hits.
 
Righty Jillian Thomas (2-4) was tagged with the loss.
 
In the second contest, Konz had three hits and drove in five runs, while both White and Gale – the left side of the FMU infielder – each had two hits.  Junior outfielder Anderson Thrower also collected a pair of hits and scored twice.
 
Both teams scored twice in the first frame.  Konz laced a run-scoring triple to left and later scored on a wild pitch.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas tallied two runs in the top of the third, but FMU answered with three in the bottom of the frame on an RBI-single by Civoniceva and a two-run homer by Strickland.
 
The Spartans knotted the score at 5-5 with a single run in the top of the fourth, but Konz and Gale delivered run-scoring singles in the bottom half to put FMU up 7-5.
 
Konz accounted for the final runs with a three-run homer in the sixth to finish a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
 
Sophomore right-hander Abby Williams (1-0) in her first appearance of 2025 pitched four innings in relief to earn the victory.  Madison Puppolo (0-1) was the losing pitcher.
 
 
#9 Francis Marion Univ. 4, Wingate University 0 (Feb 22, 2025 at Florence, SC)
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Wingate University..  000 000 0 -  0  2  4      (5-8)
Francis Marion Univ. 000 130 X -  4  8  1      (11-2)
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Pitchers: Wingate University - Jillian Thomas and Hannah Stevens. Francis Marion Univ. -
Alyssa Poston and Marlee McCormick.
Win-Alyssa Poston (6-1)  Loss-Jillian Thomas (2-4)  T-1:41  A-143
HR FMU_SB - Paige Strickland (3).
Weather: Clear, 43, Winds calm
 
 
#9 Francis Marion Univ. 10, St. Thomas Aquinas 5 (Feb 22, 2025 at Florence, SC)
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St. Thomas Aquinas.. 202 100 0 -  5  6  0      (0-2)
Francis Marion Univ.  203 203 X - 10 13  0      (12-2)
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Pitchers: St. Thomas Aquinas - Puppolo, Madison; Raposo, Eliana(6) and Leon, Olivia.
Francis Marion Univ. - Jenna Walling; Abby Williams(4) and Marlee McCormick; Rylee Gray.
Win-Abby Williams (1-0)  Loss-Puppolo, Madison (0-1)  T-2:10  A-111
HR STACSB - Raposo, Eliana 2 (2).
HR FMU_SB - Emily Konz (1); Paige Strickland (4).
Puppolo, Mad faced 1 batter in the 6th.