GREENVILLE, N.C. – Beginning their first day of involvement with the East Carolina-hosted Jolly Roger Invite on an offensive rampage previously unseen in 2023 and ending their two-game layout with a spirited effort versus another quality nonconference foe, the Presbyterian College softball team gained their 18^th overall W this year in dominant fashion over Cleveland State across a 13-2 five-inning mercy rule before succumbing to a 5-2 loss against Ohio State later on Saturday afternoon.

Improving to 3-0 all-time versus the Vikings following back-to-back low-scoring encounters pre-COVID, the Blue Hose unleashed their largest margin of victory in 13 months by smacking 13 balls that came their way, producing a seven-run 5^th inning (the most seen in a single frame this semester) to blow the first bout wide open.

Piling up 13 runs for the first time since April of last year in a Game 3 triumph against Gardner-Webb, PC found a major contributor from essentially every number in the batting order to start off the day, scoring in all but one inning beside 11 total RBI.
 
NOTABLES
- Among the seemingly-infinite positives from head coach David Williams' club in the Game 1 beatdown, second-baseman Kaitlyn Tucker's trifecta of home plate sprints led the way for a group that displayed nine players with at least one run. Lath Freeman, Rebecca Clark, and Morgan Hess each batted in a couple of scores in the landslide W, the latter of which did so on her 8^th home run of the year in the game's fifth play.

- Freeman's two-of-four outing at the plate gave the senior her seventh multi-hit performance of the campaign, a mark that had initially tied Kendall Owens for the team-best honor until the sophomore DP recorded two hits herself in the Ohio State contest.

- Checking back in at the top of the Blue Hose order after spending the last few weeks closer to the nine-hole, senior shortstop Layna Johnson has embraced the thrust back to #1 by picking up a double in three consecutive matchups going back to Wednesday's encounter at South Carolina. The Aynor native batted .500 on the day (3-of-6) beside two walks as well.

- Steadily working her way back to 100% after an early-season injury at first base, junior Jillian Hewes was perfect against the Vikings with two singles and a double, one of eight PC performers to haul in at least one run in the 11-score drubbing over CSU.

- Newbie Blair Darby continues to operate as a growing piece in coach Williams' immensely deep offense, matching Hewes with a pair of base hits through the infield. The third baseman has registered at least one connection in all five of her appearances on the year, part of a helter-skelter 5^th inning that featured 11 at-bats that led to the run-rule win.
 
GAME 1 – Presbyterian (18-6) def. Cleveland State (4-18), 13-2 (5 Innings)
- Perhaps the easiest check in the win column for starting pitcher Jenna Greene in '23 due to PC's elite offensive performance opposite Cleveland State's three different twirlers thrown at them, the fourth-year ace landed her 51^st complete game and 46^th personal victory by keeping the Vikings quiet until a mini-surge in the final two frames that ultimately held no bearing on the end result's wide margin.

- Presbyterian cruised through three and a half chapters and a 6-0 advantage before Cleveland State could muster a response on Saturday, fully opening the floodgates for a 5^th inning that poured salt in the wound for the team's first double-digit run count of the season.

- Pinch hitters Mallory Fletcher and Morgan Farthing each gathered their second RBI of the campaign during the aforementioned avalanche, a red-hot offensive sequence that included freshman Jenna Borkey's fifth run over a six-game stretch when slotted in as a pinch runner. PC capped off the towering inning with Kara Starnes' first scored run of the year on a sacrifice fly.

- Coach Williams' 96^th win as the conductor in Clinton cemented the team's largest victory – in terms of total separation – since a 14-0 result over NC Central last February, encapsulating a whopping 29 total bases in the 5^th inning onslaught.
 
GAME 2 – Ohio State (15-7) def. Presbyterian (18-7), 5-2
- Despite managing the first strike (which in turned accounted for the second time producing a run in the opening frame), the Blue Hose were unable to slow down an Ohio State visitor that wrestled the lead in their favor in the top of the 2^nd, allowing the Buckeyes to secure their ninth win in a row in the first ever series meeting.

- Hess transitioned to the circle after going yard in the first half of the weekend DH, retiring seven OSU batters while collecting all but one out in the contest (6.2 innings). Trailing by a four-run clip and needing a rally in the bottom of the 7^th, PC was able to get one of those scores back on a Farthing score after a Tucker RBI, but would ultimately come up short against another one of the most impressive teams in the country not to be included in any national ranking system.
 
UP NEXT
- Coach Williams and co. have reached the halfway point of the school's first ever trip to East Carolina, preparing for two more outings on Sunday afternoon including a date with the hosting Pirates at approximately 2:00 p.m. Prior to that, however, the Blue Hose will look to make it two in a row over Cleveland State, who they'll meet at 11:30.