FLORENCE, SC – Senior outfielder
Emily Konz and junior designated player
Kendal Miller combined for nine hits and seven runs driven in to lead seventh-ranked Francis Marion University to a 6-4 and 10-0 sweep of UNC Pembroke, Tuesday evening (March 18) in Conference Carolinas softball action.
Francis Marion improves to 25-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play. The Patriots will host Erskine College for a conference twinbill on Friday (March 21) at 4 p.m. as FMU celebrates Youth Day.
In Tuesday's opener, Miller delivered a tie-breaking RBI-single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap a 4-4 deadlock. Junior infielder
Tallulah Civoniceva was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to account for the final two-run margin.
Junior southpaw
Alyssa Poston upped her mark to 14-1 with her ninth complete of the season. She scattered 11 hits, struck out eight, and did not walk a batter.
Konz went 3-for-4 and scored three times, while junior shortstop
Madalyn White, junior outfielders
Anderson Thrower and
Paige Strickland, and Miller all had two hits. Miller drove in three runs.
Miller's RBI-double down the right field line tied the contest at 1-1 in the third. Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Miller drove in one run with an infield grounder, Strickland plated a run with an infield single, and pinch runner
Sydney Weaver scored on a wild pitch as FMU went ahead 4-2.
UNCP (12-19, 3-3) first baseman Katie Hogue clouted a long two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning to knot the score at 4-4 and set the stage for the FMU outburst in the bottom of the frame.
In the second contest, sophomore right-hander
Abby Williams (4-0) tossed a three-hit shutout. In her five innings, she fanned five batters.
Konz rapped out three more hits to extend her hitting streak to 12 games. She doubled in the first and second innings and had a bunt single in the third. Her second-inning double was off the top of the center field wall and plated two runs.
Miller and Strickland both launched two-run homers in the bottom of the first as the Patriots jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage.
Junior infielder
Rylie Webster also collected three hits in game two, including an RBI-bunt single in the second and a two-run single in the fourth.
White and Strickland had two hits in the second contest.
#7 Francis Marion Univ. 6, UNC Pembroke 4 (Mar 18, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
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UNC Pembroke........ 010 102 0 - 4 11 1 (12-18, 3-2 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 001 032 X - 6 12 1 (24-3, 6-1 CC)
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Pitchers: UNC Pembroke - Summer Bullard and Chloe Locklear. Francis Marion Univ. -
Alyssa Poston
and
Rylee Gray.
Win-
Alyssa Poston (14-1) Loss-Summer Bullard (4-5) T-2:02 A-101
HR UNCP - Katie Hogue (4).
Weather: Sunny, 73, Winds NE @ 7 mph
#7 Francis Marion Univ. 6, UNC Pembroke 4 (Mar 18, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UNC Pembroke........ 010 102 0 - 4 11 1 (12-18, 3-2 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 001 032 X - 6 12 1 (24-3, 6-1 CC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: UNC Pembroke - Summer Bullard and Chloe Locklear. Francis Marion Univ. -
Alyssa Poston
and
Rylee Gray.
Win-
Alyssa Poston (14-1) Loss-Summer Bullard (4-5) T-2:02 A-101
HR UNCP - Katie Hogue (4).
Weather: Sunny, 73, Winds NE @ 7 mph
