CLINTON, S.C. – In a pivotal Good Friday Big South Conference series between the Presbyterian College softball team and Longwood, the Blue Hose shared wins following a slim Game One defeat (4-3). They ended the doubleheader with an 8-2 victory, setting up a massive rubber match tomorrow.

PC found great strength from both starting pitchers in the twinbill, as Avery Robinson logged a season-best seven strikeouts despite the loss in the opener. Peyton Duncan picked up career win number 29 with a complete-game effort, retiring 10 of the last 11 batters that she faced.

Still a game behind Longwood in the conference standings after manufacturing eight unanswered runs in the nightcap, Presbyterian will finish their second-to-last home series on Saturday at 11:00 AM.

That is a two-hour bump from the original start time, doing so to beat a projected rain shower. A win over the Lancers would denote PC's first series victory against them since 2017.


 
NOTABLES

 
- Continuing a solid case for Big South Freshman of the Year thanks to four total hits in the DH, Hali Duke (who played second base in the opener and shifted over to third for Game Two) has now had at least one knock in 17 consecutive meetings.

- She and centerfielder Gracie DeCuir each batted in three runs to help achieve the split, while rookie Cierra Grice scored two runs on two hits across the rematch.

- Duncan lacks just one more W to become the fifth pitcher in PC's Division I history with at least 30 individual wins. She would be the second player in the David Williams era to accomplish that feat, along with Jenna Greene (2020-24).

- Additionally, Duncan needs only nine more strikeouts to hit 300 for her career. That is a number that only three other PC pitchers have reached since the program turned D-I in the late 2000's.


 
GAME ONE – Longwood def. Presbyterian, 4-3

 
- The Scotsmen nearly pulled off an improbable 4-0 comeback by offering up three scores in the last inning, although they fell just shy of that goal and stranded 11 runners in all.

- Presby made solid contact against Lancer ace Maggie Chapin (who no-hit defending league champion USC Upstate last weekend), drawing six walks and spreading out seven hits against her.

- However, the home side could not capitalize on three separate instances of loading the bases. Duke wrangled in two runs on a single in the 7^th to cut the lead in half, and after Blair Darby was hit by a pitch with each bag occupied, the winning run was suddenly in scoring position.

- Longwood induced a fielder's choice to avoid blowing the lead full-stop. Reliever Morgan Strickland took over for Chapin (who threw a staggering 145 pitches) and prevented the walk-off scenario.


 
GAME TWO – Presbyterian def. Longwood, 8-2
 

- The vibes were starting to dwindle in the second contest after LU managed a couple of early scores. That all changed in the 4^th when Presby's bats came alive and the aforementioned 8-0 run started charging up.

- DeCuir brought home two with a stand-up double, and the Blue Hose snatched their first lead of the doubleheader from sophomore shortstop Baxleigh Arnette on a sacrifice fly.

- As Duncan imposed back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, Presbyterian ran away with the victory on a five-spot in the bottom of the 6^th.

- A dropped ball from the catcher on a fielder's choice put PC ahead 4-2, only for the lead to grow further courtesy of an RBI-single by Ava Coggins, a bases-loaded walk from Duke, and a two-run laser by Audrey Burton which was her sixth hit over the last four games.

- It was Duncan's seventh complete game of her senior stint, letting just one runner get to second over the final three innings.