FLORENCE, SC – Junior designated player McKenzie Jewell collected three hits scored twice, and drove in four runs to carry 10th-ranked Francis Marion University to a doubleheader sweep, 7-1 and 6-3, over Newberry College, Friday afternoon (Jan. 30) in non-conference softball action.
 
Francis Marion (2-0) will play host to Georgia College for a twinbill on Wednesday at 3 p.m.  FMU was to have hosted USC Aiken on Sunday, but those games have been postponed due to the incoming winter weather.
 
In the season opener, Patriot senior left-hander Alyssa Poston (1-0) struck out 11, while allowing only four hits and one unearned run.
 
Jewell collected a pair of hits, including a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning.  
 
Newberry senior southpaw Natalie Wescott (0-1) was tagged with the loss as she surrendered seven runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work.
 
Newberry took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by catcher Bethany Pigg.  FMU answered back in the bottom of the frame.  A double by senior shortstop Madalyn White and a bunt single by senior left fielder Anderson Thrower proceeded Jewell's two-out three-run blast over the left-center field wall.
 
Francis Marion expanded on its 3-1 advantage in the sixth with four more runs.  Graduate student first baseman Jenna Walling led off with a single and Jewell followed with another single.  After a pair of outs, pinch hitter Reese Miller delivered an RBI-single to right field to up the margin to 4-1.  Senior second baseman Rylie Webster completed the scoring with her own three-run homer to left-center field.
 
Walling (1-0) collected the complete-game win in game two.  She allowed eight hits and two earned runs, while fanning four.
 
Strickland went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs, while Webster was 2-for-3 with a run driven in.
 
Freshman righty Kate Kapusta (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the Wolves.
 
Newberry again took an early lead, scoring single runs in the first and third innings.  Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third, FMU got one run back on a run-scoring single up the middle by Strickland that scored senior center fielder Mikaela Goss, who led off the inning with a single.
 
FMU had a chance to tie the contest in the fourth, but Newberry shortstop Ella Stone made a diving catch along the left field line to strand a pair of Patriot base runners.
 
In the fifth frame, Strickland led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run on a double by Jewell.  Walling followed with a single to left to put runners on the corners.  Senior catcher Kendal Miller plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right field.  Webster upped the margin to 4-2 with a two-out RBI-double to right field.
 
Strickland stroked an RBI-single through the left side in the bottom of the sixth, and with two outs, she and Thrower combined on a double steal with Thrower swiping home for the final Patriot run.
 
Newberry scored once in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Pigg, but Walling retired the next two batters to leave the bases loaded and end the contest.
 
Poston and Walling continue to jockey on the Patriot career wins list.  Walling is third with 58 victories, followed closely by Poston with 57.