DUNCAN, SC – Second-ranked and top-seeded Francis Marion University completed its long trek through the losers' bracket with two wins over eighth-seeded North Greenville University on Monday (Apr. 28) to win its third consecutive Conference Carolinas Softball Tournament championship.  The Patriots used four bunt singles to ignite a five-run eighth inning in game one to win 5-0 behind the two-hit pitching of Tournament MVP Jenna Walling, and then Conference Player of the Year Paige Strickland drove in three runs as FMU prevailed in the "if necessary" game 6-2.
 
Francis Marion improves to 49-4, the most wins ever by any Patriot athletic team in a single season.  FMU dropped its opening game of the tournament 4-3 to NGU on Friday, but rallied to win six straight games over three days to become the conference's first three-peat champion since 1999.  The Patriots earn their four straight NCAA Division II Tournament bid and now await the announcement of the field on Monday, May 5.
 
The double-elimination tournament was played at Tyger River Park in Duncan, S.C.
 
Joining Walling on the All-Tournament Team were senior outfielder Emily Konz, junior shortstop Madalyn White, and freshman catcher Rylee Gray.
 
In Monday's first contest, Walling (18-1) allowed only five baserunners during the extra-inning affair.  She walked only one batter and struck out four.
 
Konz, Strickland, and junior designated player Anderson Thrower led FMU with two hits apiece.
 
Francis Maron threatened in the third when junior center fielder Mikaela Goss doubled with one out, but she was stranded.  The Patriots put two runners on in the fourth, but couldn't push a run across.
 
Meanwhile defensively, White and Goss made diving catches in the field to keep NGU runners off base.
 
In the sixth inning, the Patriots loaded the bases with two outs, but NGU right-hander Kylie Rast (14-6) struck out the next batter to end the threat.  Owing to an error and a walk, the Trailblazers put their first runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, but Walling induced an inning-ending pop up.
 
Scoreless through the regulation seven innings, because it was the championship contest, the international tie-breaker rule was not in effect.
 
In the eighth inning, White led off with a bunt single.  Konz followed with a bunt single and White advanced to third on a throwing error.  After Konz stole second base, Strickland laid down a squeeze bunt that went for a hit and scored White for a 1-0 lead.  Thrower reached on the fourth straight bunt single to load the bases with no outs.
 
Gray broke the game open with a two-run double to left centerfield.  Thrower later scored on a wild pitch and junior first baseman Tallulah Civoniceva drove home the fifth run with an RBI-single up the middle.
 
Walling retired the Trailblazers in order in the bottom of the inning to force the extra game.
 
Following a 30-minute break between games, North Greenville scored two unearned runs off FMU junior southpaw pitcher Alyssa Poston (26-2) in the top of the first.  But that was all the runs the Hartsville native would allow.  She scattered 10 hits, walked two, and fanned two.
 
Francis Marion evened the game in the bottom of the second.  Singles by Thrower,  Civoniceva, and Gale preceeded a two-out, two-run pinch-hit single by senior Samantha Turnage.
Konz helped create the go-ahead run in the third when she reached on an error by the pitcher and sped all the way around to third base.  Strickland put FMU up 3-2 with a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
The advantage swelled to 6-2 in the fourth frame as the Patriots scored three times with two outs. Gale reached on a fielding error and went to third on a single by White.  When the ball was miss-played in left field, Gale continued around third and scored.  Konz followed with another bunt single to extend her hitting streak to 17 games and then stole second – her 41st steal of the season (in 42 attempts) tying FMU Hall of Famer Kim Booker for the second most steals in a season.
 
Strickland stepped to the plate and drilled a two-run single to left center field to build the final 6-2 margin.  Strickland now has 76 RBIs, just five shy of the team's single-season record.
 
White, Thrower, and Gale all had two hits in the clinching contest, with White pushing her hitting streak to 14 games.
 
Karley Green (9-8), the second of four Trailblazer pitchers in the second game, was tagged with the loss.
  
Walling (55-8) and Poston (54-8) remain third and fourth respectively on the FMU career wins list.
 
 
#2 Francis Marion 5, North Greenville 0 (Apr 28, 2025 at Duncan, SC)
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Francis Marion...... 000 000 05 -  5 10  1      (48-4)
North Greenville.... 000 000 00 -  0  2  3      (35-20)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion - Jenna Walling and Rylee Gray. North Greenville - Kylie Rast;
Sydney Clark(8) and Maddie Stone.
Win-Jenna Walling(18-1)  Loss-Kylie Rast(15-5)  T-1:55  A-119
Weather: Sunny
K. Rast faced 5 batters in the 8th.
 
 
#2 Francis Marion 6, North Greenville 2 (Apr 28, 2025 at Duncan, SC)
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North Greenville.... 200 000 0 -  2 10  4      (35-21)
Francis Marion...... 021 300 X -  6 10  1      (49-4)
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Pitchers: North Greenville - Kylie Rast; Karley Green(2); Sydney Clark(3); Georgia Lieb(5) and Maddie Stone. Francis Marion - Alyssa Poston and Rylee Gray; Marlee McCormick.
Win-Alyssa Poston (26-2)  Loss-Karley Green (9-8)  T-1:54  A-119
Weather: Sunny