CLINTON, S.C. – It wasn't always necessarily the prettiest in terms of the when and how, although the Presbyterian College softball team managed to assemble a palpable level of grit and perseverance under the lights on Tuesday afternoon in a doubleheader versus Furman, shaking off the cobwebs from a 10-3 opening-bout defeat before punching back in the nightcap with a 6-5 thriller.

Confronted with the highest amount of adversity thrown their way over the first month of the season, the Blue Hose – backed by a marvelous iron woman performance in the circle from sophomore Morgan Hess – silenced a recent offensive slump across the sunshine-turned-night sky twinbill, beating out the 2007 team for the school's quickest rise to a 15-win count (25 days).

Situated with a Furman opponent miles better than a 4-15 record would suggest upon a passing glance, Presbyterian captured their 12^th home victory of the campaign in the nonconference split while smacking 15 hits altogether from 10 different players. Hess and junior first-baseman Jillian Hewes both cleared the fence against the Paladins, jolting new life into a PC order that had begun to hit an early-season lull going in.
 
NOTABLES
- Steadily beefing up her offensive numbers to complement a perfect fielding percentage with 20 games in the can, senior Rebecca Clark advanced her personal hitting streak to five games by connecting on three in the DH. The second-longest streak obtained by any Blue Hose batter this semester, Clark has kept an equally-stout reputation on the other end with zero errors on 44 chances, joining outfield mates Gracie DeCuir and Mallory Fletcher who have nary a mistake between them.

- A major contributor since 2020 on par with Clark's rapid development, fourth-year catcher Lath Freeman recorded her fourth multi-hit effort of the season against Furman by going two-for-two with a walk and a run scored (on Hess' aforementioned three-run rocket in the second go-around).

- Not only did newbie third-baseman Blair Darby make an obvious impact in the final box score of the one-run melee, reaching a pair of hits and an RBI in the bottom of the 2^nd, but the freshman was even more of a pleasant surprise when roaming the infield. The Spartanburg native relished her opportunity to do some damage in the South Carolina battle, a pivotal piece in keeping the Paladins off the board over the last two innings.

- While the domineering pitching trio of Hess, Jenna Greene, and Peyton Duncan have rightfully earned their plaudits to this point on the year – tying the nation's sixth-lowest ERA approaching the two-parter – their gusto was put to the test by Furman's scrappy bunch, a test that Hess passed in the nightcap by striking out nine, allowing just three earned runs, and forcing the visitors into 14 runners stranded over a contest decided by a single score.
 
GAME 1 – Furman (5-15) def. Presbyterian (14-5), 10-3
- After Hewes launched her first home run of a season that began in injury (giving the Blue Hose their sixth player to tally at least one longball), the Paladins turned up the heat in the top of the 3^rd by flipping a one-all deadlock into a six-run advantage that required head coach David Williams to turn to rookie Peyton Duncan in 4.1 frames of relief.

- While neither Greene nor the newbie turned in a lackluster performance, the PC defense was uncharacteristic in its mannerisms with four total errors, a fact that brought six of Furman's 10 scored runs to the unearned realm.

- Kelby Goodrum stopped the bleeding a bit with an RBI-single that scored Kendall Owens in the 5^th stanza, although the hole was simply too large to climb out of even with another dash home in the bottom of the 6^th from pinch runner Jenna Borkey.
 
GAME 2 – Presbyterian (15-5) def. Furman (5-16), 6-5
 - Making up for what the previous encounter lacked in theatrics, both sides took turns delivering big blows to one another until the Blue Hose enjoyed the last laugh, again from the feet of Borkey in the 6^th. The unpredictable nature of the nightcap yielded two ties after the 2^nd and 5^th chapters, leaving spectators unsure of who would bow out first.

- Once Furman achieved a feat that only one other Presbyterian foe has managed in 2023 (notch a home run over PC's esteemed arms), things looked as if another turn for the worse may be in effect. That is until coach Williams' club reeled off five unanswered runs over the next two innings, capped by Hess' dinger that also brought Freeman and Hewes around the diamond.

- Smelling that a sweep may be possible after sending spirits back to ground level with three straight scores of their own, Furman's two-RBI base hit in the 5^th pulled both sides back to square one, although it wouldn't stay that way for long.

- Clark's third hit of the series kickstarted Presbyterian's mini-run in the penultimate period, bringing Borkey in at first base to utilize her speed as the Blue Hose attempted to wrestle the lead back in their direction. A perfectly-placed sacrifice bunt by Darby and an equally well-lofted sac-fly by Owens successfully guided the freshman to her destination, turning the reigns to Hess from there to complete the mission.

- The third occasion this year that PC has been able to assume the W when presented with a tied affair after five, coach Williams' group has outscored the opposition by a combined margin of 11-6 in the 6^th inning, representing the tide-turning play that gifted them the victory.
 
UP NEXT
- A week-long off-again-on-again set against the Queens Royals continues on Saturday for the Blue Hose, scheduled to battle their Charlotte rivals again in Clinton over the weekend now with their mojo regained.

- Hoping to atone for a 5-0 loss to the newly-initiated ASUN squad two nights back, Presbyterian gears up for rounds II and III with Queens at 12:00 and 2:00 on March 11.