Softball Sweeps Through USC Salkehatchie

ALLENDALE, S.C.  – The Hurricanes softball team traveled to USC-Salkehatchie on Sunday for a weekend doubleheader with the Indians. They returned Sunday night to Louisburg with a pair of wins in their second straight Region X double header sweep.

Game 1 (LC 7 – USC-Salkehatchie 1)

The Indians jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Haley Gowan. The Hurricanes responded with two runs in the fourth to take the lead. They added an insurance run in the sixth and then tacked on four in the seventh to seal the 7-1 outcome.

In the front-end of the twinbill the Hurricanes' Liv Garman drove in two runs, as did Katlyn Tharrington. K'Lea Parks, Summer Phillips, and Sara Siwinski added RBIs. Garman's RBIs came on solo home runs. She also added a double in a 3-4 effort at the plate.

Mary Anna Clement got the complete game win for the Hurricanes, pitching seven innings, striking out five, and allowing just one earned run. With the win, Clement moves to 12-2 on the season in 14 mound appearances. The freshman has 80 strikeouts against just 22 walks and is holding opponents to a 0.58 ERA. She is averaging 6.79 strikeouts per seven innings pitched.

Game 2 (Louisburg 10 – USC-Salkehatchie 2)

The Hurricanes topped their game one offensive effort when they put up ten runs in the second game for the 10-2 victory and the sweep.

In the nightcap, Clement followed up her stellar effort on the mound in game one with a 3-5 outing batting in the two spot in the second game. She had a double and drove in two runs bringing her team leading total to 31 RBI on the season. Tharrington also doubled for Louisburg and drove in two runs. Lead-off hitter Abbi Colclough did her job by going 2-5 and driving in two runs while scoring one for the Hurricanes. Siwinski followed up on her game one effort with two hits in the nightcap.

Louisburg as a team had 15 hits, for a two-game total of 27 on the afternoon.

Savannah Jackson pitched seven innings in the nightcap and struck out four, while allowing just three hits. Jackson improved her mark on the season to 6-4 and is second on the team behind Clement with 61 and 1/3 innings pitched.

Kasey Williams took the loss on the mound for the Indians. With the win, Louisburg moved to 19-7 on the season, and 9-1 in Region X play.  

Hurricanes Notes: The Hurricanes have now won 13 of their last 14 games following the weekend series. The sweep was their second straight after taking two from Spartanburg Methodist earlier this month.

At the plate, sophomore Monica Pepe leads the team to date with a .481 batting average, and has two home runs and 18 RBIs while appearing 24 games. Pepe leads the team with 18 stolen bases and is yet to get thrown out in 2018. Garman is behind Pepe with a next-best .453 batting average and has six home runs. Following Garman is Clement who is batting .414 and in 102 plate appearances has yet to strikeout in 2018.

Next Up: Louisburg hosts the Richard Bland College Statesman (18-9) on Sunday, April 15 in a doubleheader