Due West, SC – Pitching ruled the day as Erskine split a double-header with Queens University in Conference Carolinas softball action at the Erskine College Softball Complex.  Queens won the first game 4-0 behind a two-hit shutout by Chantel Dodge while Erskine’s Heather Richey (Abbeville, SC, Abbeville High School) returned the favor with a two-hit shutout in the nightcap to win 1-0.
Erskine is now 8-14 overall and 6-4 in conference while Queens University stands at 11-17 overall and 1-1 in conference.

Game One – Box Score

Erskine had no answer for Queens’ Chantel Dodge as she limited the Flying Fleet to just two hits.  Freshman Ericka McCarson (Travelers Rest, SC, Travelers Rest High School) broke up Dodge’s no-hit bid in the 6^th with a two-out single.  Sophomore Ashlyn Hicks (Caycee, SC, Brookland-Cayce High School) got the other Fleet’s hit in the bottom of the seventh as the Fleet never seriously threatened.  Dodge struck out nine and did not yield a walk in picking up her eighth win of the season.

For Erskine, pitcher Kelsey Spurrier (Charlotte, NC, Butler High School) took the complete game loss.  Spurrier allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits while striking out four and walking one.  Queens scored one run in the second on an RBI double by Megan Lathbury.  Queens added three insurance runs in the next inning.  Spurrier surrendered three consecutive singles to start the inning with Emma Shultz’s two-rbi single to causing most of the damage.  Queens scored their third run after two Fleet fielding errors allowed Shultz to move to third and score on Lathbury’s sacrifice fly.  Spurrier settled down at that point giving up just one hit over the next four innings.  Shultz finished the game 2 for 4 with a run scored and two runs batted in.

Game Two – Box Score

In the nightcap, Erskine’s Richey limited Queens to just two hits over seven innings while striking out three and walking two.  The Royals never had a runner in scoring position.  It was the sixth win of the year for Richey.

Offensively Erskine continued to struggle to score runs despite pounding out eight hits and having a runner on base every inning.  The Fleet scored their lone run in the second inning.  Junior Bailey Thornton (Pauline, SC, Dorman High School) led off the inning with double and later scored on a single by sophomore Whitney Brown (West Columbia, SC, Airport High School). 

Three times Erskine had a runner on third with less than two outs and failed to net a run.  In the third inning, Erskine got back-to-back base hits by Lindsay Waters (Simpsonville, SC, James L. Mann High School) and Larissa Shannon (Newberry, SC, Newberry High School) but could not push a run across the plate.  The next inning Hicks started the inning with a solid single.  Erskine Head Coach Alleen Hawkins pinch ran for Hicks with Brooke Benson (Greenville, SC, Berea High School) who promptly took second base.  After a sacrifice moved her to third, Erskine failed to get the ball out of the infield allowing Queens pitcher Amanda Rodriquez out of the jam again.  In the sixth inning, the Fleet again had runners on second and third and did not get a run.

Erskine plays their next seven opponents on the road and does not play at home again until April 12th.  On Monday,
Erskine plays St. Andrews University followed by Pfeiffer University on Tuesday.