FLORENCE, SC – Senior shortstop
Madalyn White registered five hits and scored four times to help spark 19th-ranked Francis Marion University to a doubleheader split with visiting Georgia College, Wednesday (March 18) in non-conference softball action. FMU won the second game 12-3 in five innings after dropping the opener 4-2.
Francis Marion (24-9) returns to Conference Carolinas play on Saturday when the Patriots host Ferrum College for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
Patriot freshman righthander
Laini Kosinski (2-0) earned the win in game two. The Manning native scattered 10 hits and struck out one without allowing a walk in just her second career start.
White was 3-for-4 at the top of the FMU line-up with two runs scored, a stolen base, and a run driven in. Senior left fielder
Anderson Thrower was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs batting behind White in the two hole.
The Patriots took an early lead with two runs in the first frame. White and Thrower both singled, and junior designated player
McKenzie Jewell scored White with a squeeze bunt. Thrower later came home on an RBI-ground out by senior second baseman
Maddy Golka.
After Georgia College (8-12) scored once in the top of third, Francis Marion erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the inning. Jewell lined an RBI-double to right field, senior outfielder
Paige Strickland rapped a two-run single up the middle, and White and Thrower concluded the scoring with run-scoring singles.
The Bobcats plated two runs in the fourth, but FMU responded with three in the bottom half to go up 12-3. Two runs scored on a two-out fielding error and Thrower drove in the third with a single to left field.
When Kosinski retired the Bobcats in the fifth, the 8-run mercy rule was invoked.
In game one, senior righty
Jenna Walling (16-6) pitched a complete game, but was tagged with the loss. She surrendered 10 hits, while striking out four and not issuing a walk.
White led FMU at the plate with a pair of hits and she scored both runs. Golka reached base three times after being hit twice and walking once.
Right-handers Annalise Kemp and Sydney Garrett (5-6) limited the Patriots to three hits, and both the runs were unearned.
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. White led off with a bunt single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third, and came home when the catcher's throw to third was wild.
The Bobcats scored two runs in each of the second and third innings to grab a 4-1 advantage. Francis Marion answered with a single tally in the bottom of the third. White again reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a ground out. She moved to third on a wild pitch and again the throw to third was offline allowing White to score.
Garrett entered the game in the bottom of the fourth and retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced.
