ROCK HILL, S.C. – Brilliance in the circle by the tag team of
Peyton Duncan and
Kasey Wolfe, as well as some clutch 8th-inning offense in the second half of Saturday's doubleheader, lifted the Presbyterian College softball team to a sweep over Norfolk State (2-0) and Queens (5-2) in the final day of the Winthrop Eagle Classic.
Wolfe and Duncan linked up for 18 strikeouts as the Blue Hose boosted their win streak up to three, collecting their first shutout of the campaign against the Spartans before later winning their second extra-innings bout of 2025.
Senior first-baseman
Kendall Owens torched both opponents on Saturday with a 5-of-7 effort at the plate, while rookie shortstop
Baxleigh Arnette was crucial to the Queens victory by going 3-for-3 along with a walk.
Now at 13-10 overall and winning five of their eight neutral-site encounters, PC comes back to Clinton for their next seven games which includes the Big South opener versus USC Upstate. Their next outing comes on Tuesday, a one-off with South Dakota.
NOTABLES
- Duncan was a problem that Norfolk State couldn't solve in the morning shift, tying her career-best with 10 K's while allowing just three hits. She'd let only two base-runners appear in the first four innings of her complete-game shutout.
- It's the third time in Duncan's Presby career that she held the opponent to zero on the scoreboard, enabling the Blue Hose to move to 5-0 all-time against the Spartans.
- Wolfe (the reigning Big South Player of the Week) was just as dominant in the triumph over Queens, striking out eight on 116 pitches. She also batted .500 in the same game while scoring a 4th-inning run, slamming the door on the Royals in the extra stanza.
- With neither team able to produce the tiebreaking run in the last two innings, PC made sure the game would end in the 8th by putting up a three-spot.
Mallory Fletcher gave her club the lead on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, setting up
Morgan Farthing for a two-run single that sealed the deal.
GAME ONE – PC def. NORFOLK STATE, 2-0
- It was seven innings of the
Peyton Duncan show as Presbyterian grinded out a low-scoring W over Norfolk State, following up a three-run win over the Spartans yesterday with a sweep.
- Duncan's 10 strikeouts are her most since hitting that same number versus South Carolina State a year ago, handing PC their first shutout win since March of 2024 (a 1-0 victory over in-state rival Wofford).
- Wolfe put her squad ahead in the first frame on a ground out that brought Arnette home. Farthing created some insurance in the 6th on a base hit to score pinch runner
Sabrina Rose, not the last RBI of the afternoon for the Pennsylvania native.
- Duncan let only one Norfolk player get to first base in the final two innings, going 1-2-3 in the 7th to end the affair.
GAME TWO – PC def. QUEENS, 5-2 (8 Innings)
- The last play of the 4th, 6th, and 7th innings all followed the same script: two Queens base-runners that were left stranded thanks to a
Kasey Wolfe strikeout.
- PC didn't let a late error burn them with the Royals threatening to walk it off, as Wolfe denied the would-be hero to set up her crew for a three-run sequence in extra's.
- Ten of Presby's 13 wins this month have come from Wolfe and Duncan, once again going 1-2-3 in the 8th after the Blue Hose offense gave them a comfortable lead under pressure.
- Farthing's two-run knock was the dagger, with the junior batting .555 in her last three appearances. Meanwhile, Owens' recent run has been splendid midway through her senior ride, gaining 14 hits in the last seven games along with nine RBI and two homers in that stretch.
