GREENVILLE, S.C.- The Presbyterian College softball team had a long day of softball on Saturday evening, part of the Greenville Showdown. PC was under the lights all night long but that didn't bother them as they defeated George Mason 8-7, and took down Iona for the second straight day, 7-3.
The two wins push Presbyterian's winning streak to eight games, the longest in the team's Division I history. The Blue Hose are now 8-3 on the season and 6-0 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
Game 1 – George Mason
Jenna Greene was given the start again as she tried to repeat her 14-strikeout performance from Friday. She gave up a leadoff single, but sat down the next six batters, two of which by punchout. In the bottom of the second,
Jillian Hewes kicked things off as she smashed a double to right center. After
Morgan Hess flew out and
Rebecca Clark went down on strikes,
Jaiden Tweed kept the inning alive with a single. With Hewes now at third,
Layna Johnson shot one to right field to plate Hewes and open the scoring. PC would add to their total by plating four in the following inning, bringing all nine batters to the dish.
Lath Freeman brought in
Jersey Silver on an RBI groundout, and Hewes scored
Kaitlyn Tucker with her second hit of the game. The Blue Hose did damage with two outs again as Clark singled and Tweed walked to load the bases. Johnson lined one up the middle on the first pitch she saw to bring in Hewes and Clark to make it 5-0. Greene shut down George Mason in the 4
th and 5
th inning which sent PC back to the plate. Hess started things off with a leadoff double to left field. She moved to third after Tweed flew out, but then Johnson drove one over the fence in left for a two-run homer.
George Mason did some work in the top of the sixth to get back in the game by putting up a five spot. They were able to get the bases loaded with no outs, and a single drove home one. A sac fly would bring in another before a three-run homerun would make it a 7-5 game.
Haley Haselden came in to pitch and closed out the inning before the Patriots could get any more. Presbyterian would stretch it back to a three-run game in the bottom half as back-to-back doubles from Freeman and Hewes would score
Kara Starnes who pinch ran for Freeman. George Mason did everything they could to climb back and extend the game as they scored two to make it 8-7, but the final out was made at third as a Patriot tried stretching a double into a triple and a perfect Blue Hose relay was able to get the out and end the game.
Game 2 – Iona
Morgan Hess received the start in game two, working past a leadoff walk to get through the top half. PC wasted little time to get runners on base and make them count as Tucker used her speed to force an error out of the third baseman. A Freeman single and a Hewes single allowed Tucker to come all the way around to score the game's opening run. Clark was hit by a pitch to load the bases and the Blue Hose went to work again with two outs. Tweed smacked one into the gap to clear the bases, and
Kelby Goodrum got her first collegiate base knock to bring Tweed around to score.
Bailey Watkins singled to right center to score Goodrum, and Johnson came back to the plate as PC batted around and singled to score Watkins from second. Presbyterian's run finally came to an end as they had a 7-0 lead.
Hess started mowing down Gael hitters as she had a one-two-three top of the second and struck out the side in the third after giving up a double. She punched out two more in the fourth before Iona struck in the fifth. The Gaels used a pair of singles, a double, and a triple to score three runs in the inning to cut into PC's lead, not 7-3. Luckily for Presbyterian that was all Iona would get as Hess shut them down in the final two innings to secure the win and push the win streak to eight games.
Notables
- Jillian Hewes went 5-8 on the day, now leading the team with a .464 avg., with a pair of doubles and driving in two runs.
- Jenna Greene and Morgan Hess each recorded their fourth win of the year.
- Layna Johnson hit her first homerun of the year and sixth of her career.
- Presbyterian pitchers have now recorded 91 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
Furman announced earlier in the day that Sunday's action would be canceled due to anticipated weather, so the Blue Hose will now be back on the field on Tuesday, March 1 for a doubleheader against ETSU starting at 1pm.
