FLORENCE, SC – Junior second baseman Rylie Webster hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to carry fourth-ranked Francis Marion University to a 5-3 win over visiting Lander University, Tuesday afternoon (March 25) in non-conference softball action.  The Patriots would go on to sweep the Bearcats with an 8-0 game-two win behind the two-hit pitching of junior right-hander Jenna Walling.
 
Francis Marion runs its winning streak to 10 games and improves to 31-3.  The Patriots will play a Conference Carolinas doubleheader at Belmont Abbey College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
In Tuesday's opening game, junior left-hander Alyssa Poston (17-1) scattered eight hits and struck out two to earn the win.
 
The high-powered FMU offense, which is ranked eighth nationally in scoring at 7.5 runs per game, was stymied early by Lander freshman righty Paige Sherman (1-2).  She held the Patriots to one run, an RBI-single by junior first baseman Tallulah Civoniceva in the second inning, through the first five innings as Lander built a 3-1 advantage.
 
With two outs in the sixth inning, senior third baseman Peyton Gale singled up the middle.  Freshman catcher Rylee Gray was then hit by a pitch.  Civoniceva followed with a run-scoring single to right field to bring the Patriots to within 3-2.  Webster then cranked an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to erase the deficit and give the Patriots a 5-3 lead.
 
Poston did allow a seventh-inning hit but retired the Bearcats without a run to secure the win.
 
Webster and Civoniceva, the eighth and ninth batters in the Patriot line-up, both had two hits in the opener.  Webster also turned in a pair of stellar defensive plays during the first three innings to rob Bearcats of hits.
 
In the second contest, the first five batters for FMU in the bottom of the first inning reached base and scored.  Junior left fielder Anderson Thrower plated two with a single to right field and junior right fielder Paige Strickland hit a three-run home run to left.  That drive tied Strickland for the national lead in runs batted in with 48.
 
Gray poked a run-scoring single through the left side in the third to up the margin to 6-0.  Senior pinch-hitter Samantha Turnage drilled an RBI-single through the right side in the fifth to increase the lead to 7-0.
 
Gray walked with the bases-loaded in the sixth inning to account for the final run and to end the game via the eight-run mercy rule.
 
Strickland finished a triple of hitting for the cycle as she went 3-for-4 and scored three times.  Junior designated player Kendal Miller had two hits in the second contest.
 
Senior outfielder Emily Konz had one hit in each game to extend her hitting streak to 18 games, and her streak of safely reaching base to 19 contests.
 
Walling (10-1) allowed only four base runners, while fanning seven.
 
Lander starter Jacy Ayers (0-3) was tagged with the game-two loss.
 
Francis Marion has won 36 of its last 38 home games, and reached 30 victories each of the past four seasons and 12 times in head coach Stacey Vallee's 21-year tenure at FMU.

 
 
#4 Francis Marion Univ. 5, Lander University 3 (Mar 25, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
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Lander University... 000 300 0 -  3  8  0      (14-14)
Francis Marion Univ. 010 004 X -  5  8  0      (30-3)
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Pitchers: Lander University - Paige Sherma; Mattye Geddi(6) and Raquel Camug.
Francis Marion Univ. - Alyssa Poston and Rylee Gray.
Win-Alyssa Poston(17-1)  Loss-Paige Sherma(1-2)  T-1:56  A-86
HR FMU_SB - Rylie Webster (2).
Weather: Sunny,75 ,Winds NE @ 12 mph
 
 
#4 Francis Marion Univ. 8, Lander University 0 (Mar 25, 2025 at Florence, SC) (Game 2)
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Lander University... 000 000  -  0  2  0      (14-15)
Francis Marion Univ. 501 011  -  8 10  1      (31-3)
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Pitchers: Lander University - Jacy Ayers; Mattye Geddi(1); Alyssa Grime(6) and Raquel Camug.
Francis Marion Univ. - Jenna Walling and Rylee Gray.
Win-Jenna Walling(10-1)  Loss-Jacy Ayers(0-3)  T-1:51  A-0
HR FMU_SB - Paige Strickland (7).
Weather: Sunny, 77, Winds NE @ 14 mph
Jacy Ayers faced 3 batters in the 1st.