Blaire Miller drove in three runs, including two off her first home run of the season, to lead the Presbyterian College softball team to the 9-5 win over South Carolina State in the home opener Wednesday afternoon at the PC Softball Complex in Clinton, S.C. Megan Anderson added two hits and a RBI as well.
The Blue Hose improve to 10-8 and head to UNC Wilmington Mar. 12-13, for a series with the Seahawks and UNC Greensboro Spartans. PC faces UNCW Saturday at 9:30 a.m., before taking on UNCG at 2:30 p.m. After a 9:30 a.m., game against UNCG on Sunday, PC takes on UNCW at 12:00 p.m. S.C. State drops to 2-9.
Following Miller and her one hit and three RBI, was Anderson with two hits and RBI, as well as Madison Longanecker and Jonnie Petree with two hits apiece. Longanecker added two runs with Petree stealing three bases on the afternoon.
Ciana Burt led SCSU with three hits and two RBI. The collected eight hits and five errors on the afternoon, compared to nine hits and two errors for PC.
Kierra Cromer (1-5) took the loss for the Bulldogs, going 6.0 innings and giving up five earned runs off nine hits. Katie Brown (5-3) picked up the win in relief, going 2.0 innings and giving up three runs off three hits.
PC came out swinging in the first inning, with Longanecker scoring off a Bulldog error and Erin Ruff coming in off a RBI single from Kersten Legacki. SC State came back with a run in the third, off a RBI single from Burt, before a sacrifice from Miller n the fourth put the Blue Hose back up by two, 3-1.
Kaneisha Pettiford made it a one-run game again in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, but it was PC back at in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly from Kylie Young to make it 4-2.
South Carolina State opened the sixth with three hits in six at-bats, including a two-RBI double by Richardson, and a RBI double by Burt, to take its first lead of the game, 5-4.
PC responded with a single by Petree, followed by a two-run home run from Miller to retake the lead, 6-5. PC added three more runs in the inning, in part to a RBI ground out from Ruff and a RBI double from Anderson.
Brown struck out two in the top of the seventh to give PC the four-run win.
