MURFREESBORO, NC – Sophomore catcher
Rylee Gray homered in both games as 19th-ranked Francis Marion University split its Conference Carolina softball doubleheader on Saturday (March 28) at Chowan University. The Patriots won the opener 10-1 in five innings before falling 4-3 in the second contest.
Francis Marion moves to 31-10 overall and 15-5 in conference play. The Patriots will play a conference doubleheader at the University of Mount Olive on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
In the first game, graduate student right-hander
Jenna Walling (21-6) improved upon her nation-leading win total by tossing a four-hitter. She did allow a fourth-inning run that snapped a streak of 37.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
Senior shortstop
Madalyn White and junior right fielder
McKenzie Jewell led FMU with three hits apiece, while sophomore designated player
Reese Miller and senior third baseman
Rylie Webster rapped out two hits each.
Jewell launched a two-run homer in the top of the first to stake the Patriots to an early lead. A sacrifice fly by senior center fielder
Mikaela Goss upped the margin to 3-0 in the second.
Run-scoring singles by Webster and senior second baseman
Maddy Golka and a sacrifice fly from sophomore catcher
Rylee Gray pushed the margin to 6-0 in the third. The advantage swelled to 9-0 in the fourth as Miller and Jewell registered RBI-singles and a third run scored on an error.
After the Hawks scored their lone run in the fourth, Francis Marion added an insurance run in the fifth on a solo homer by Gray.
In the second game, both teams scored twice in the second frame. FMU's first run scored on a sacrifice bunt by Gray and when the ball was thrown away, a second run came across. The Hawks answered with two runs in their half of the inning.
Gray staked FMU to a 3-2 lead with a lead-off home in the fourth. However, in the bottom of the inning Chowan scored two runs on five hits to chase FMU freshman starter
Laini Kosinski (4-1). Walling came on in relief and stranded three runners on base.
Now looking to rally, Webster doubled with one out in the fifth and moved to third on a wild pitcher, but was left stranded. Senior first baseman
Tallulah Civoniceva led off the sixth with a single, but was erased on an inning-ending double play.
In the seventh, Golka walked and Jewell was hit by a pitch. Both were pinch run for, and they moved up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. However, Chowen reliever Abby Rutledge struck out the next two batters to end the game and earn her fifth save.
White was the lone Patriots with two hits in the second contest.
