FLORENCE, SC – Outfielders
Emily Konz and
Anderson Thrower registered four hits apiece and drove in a combined five runs to propel seventh-ranked Francis Marion University to a sweep of Saturday afternoon's (March 22) Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader with Shorter University as the Patriots won 7-2 and 11-3 in five innings.
Francis Marion, winners of eight straight and 25 of its last 26 contests, ups its overall mark to 28-3 and its league record to 10-1. The Patriots will host Lander University for a non-conference twinbill on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
After scoring 28 runs on 30 hits in Friday night's doubleheader sweep, the Patriots bats were slow to awake on Saturday. Shorter senior right-hander Emily Brunson (1-6) held FMU scoreless on one hit through four innings as the Hawks built a 2-0 game-one lead.
However, Francis Marion scored four times in the fifth inning and three times in the sixth to rally. In the fifth, junior first baseman
Tallulah Civoniceva was hit by a pitch and then hustled around to score on a double to left field by junior second baseman
Rylie Webster. Later in the frame, Thrower plated the tying run with a ground out and then junior right fielder
Paige Strickland tripled to right-center to score two more.
In the sixth inning, junior designated player
Kendal Miller drilled a two-out three-run double to left-center field to account for the final margin.
Junior shortstop
Madalyn White was the lone Patriot with multiple hits in the opener.
Junior left-hander
Alyssa Poston (16-1) allowed just one earned run on four hits in a complete-game effort. She struck out eight and walked only one to push her season strikeouts-to-walks ratio to 112 to 12.
In game two, FMU scored six runs over the first two innings to forge a 6-0 advantage. Shorter trimmed the deficit to 6-3 in the third, but the Patriots scored four times in the fourth and ended the game in the fifth with a walk-off solo homer by Konz.
Konz, who owns a 16-game hitting streak, and Anderson both had three hits and two RBIs in the second contest. Miller went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in.
Strickland and Gale both had a hit and two RBIs in game two.
Junior right-hander
Jenna Walling (9-1) earned the win in relief of starter
Abby Williams. Walling surrendered just four hits and no runs in 2.2 innings of work with four strikeouts.
Alana Loyd (1-9) was the losing pitcher in game two.
Francis Marion has won 34 of its last 36 home games. Saturday's game-two victory was the 1350th all-time win for the FMU program in 47 seasons.
#7 Francis Marion Univ. 7, Shorter University 2 (Mar 22, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
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Shorter University.. 002 000 0 - 2 4 0 (4-20, 1-6 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 000 043 X - 7 7 1 (28-3, 10-1 CC)
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Pitchers: Shorter University - Emily Brunson; Chloe Jones(6) and Madi Curtis.
Francis Marion Univ. -
Alyssa Poston and
Rylee Gray.
Win-
Alyssa Poston(16-1) Loss-Emily Brunson(1-6) T-1:52 A-187
Weather: Sunny, 67, Winds E @ 15 mph
#7 Francis Marion Univ. 11, Shorter University 3 (Mar 22, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 2)
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Shorter University.. 003 00 - 3 7 0 (4-21, 1-7 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 240 41 - 11 13 1 (29-3, 11-1 CC)
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Pitchers: Shorter University - Alana Loyd; Valery Baxter(2); Rylee Gattis(4) and Madi Curtis.
Francis Marion Univ. -
Abby Williams;
Jenna Walling(3) and
Rylee Gray;
Taylor Beak.
Win-
Jenna Walling(9-1) Loss-Alana Loyd(1-9) T-1:49 A-0
HR FMU_SB -
Emily Konz (2).
Weather: Sunny, 73, Winds E @ 16 mph
