FLORENCE, SC – Senior shortstop Madalyn White went 6-for-6 with a walk, three runs scored, and two runs driven in as 10th-ranked Francis Marion University swept a doubleheader from Ferris State University, winning 7-0 and 10-2, on the opening day of the Swamp Fox Sizzler Softball Tournament, Friday afternoon (Feb. 13).
 
The event will conclude on Saturday with three games: Francis Marion (7-1) will play Ferris State (2-4) at noon, Tusculum University (3-3) will face Ferris State at 2 p.m., and FMU will play Tusculum at 4 p.m.
 
In Friday's opener, Patriot senior left-hander Alyssa Poston (3-1) scattered seven hits with four strike outs to record the complete game shutout. 
 
The Patriots' defense also aided Poston by turning a triple play in the top of the sixth inning.  Poston caught a line drive in the circle, threw to Strickland at second to double up a runner, and Strickland threw to first to nab another runner.
 
White went 3-for-3 at the top of the lineup with two runs scored and two driven in. Senior left fielder Anderson Thrower had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs, while senior right fielder Paige Strickland was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Ferris State right-hander Katie Shuboy (0-1) matched zeros with Poston through the first four frames before the Patriots scored four times in the fifth and three times in the sixth.
 
In the fifth, FMU scored four unearned run to break the scoreless tie.  White drove in the first run with a squeeze bunt.  Thrower doubled home two runs and junior designated player McKenzie Jewell stroked an RBI-double to center field.
 
In the sixth inning, the Patriots plated a trio of two-out tallies.  White singled home pinch runner Sydney Weaver to up the margin to 5-0.  Two batters later, Strickland hit an RBI double to center and Thrower scored the final run on a wild pitch.
 
In the second contest, senior righty Jenna Walling (4-0) pitched a complete game and slugged an opposite field three-run homer.  Both the runs scored against her were unearned.  She allowed six hits, fanned four, and did not walk a batter.
 
White was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.  She has reached base safely in 28 straight contests dating back to last season, and in 64 of her last 67 games.  Thrower and senior catcher Kendal Miller both added a pair of hits.
 
After the Bulldogs scored their two unearned runs in the top of the first, the Patriots responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame.  Jewell and Walling both hit opposite field three-run homers as FMU batted through the line-up.
 
Sophomore third baseman Reese Miller upped the advantage to 8-2 with a one-out, two-run single to right field in the fifth inning.  Sophomore catcher Rylee Gray ended the game via the 8-run mercy rule with a one-out, two-RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Ferris State righty Cecelia Bell (1-2) was tagged with the game-two loss.