DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College softball team (8-19, 4-6 CC) earned its first doubleheader sweep of the season with a pair of wins against Converse University (1-35, 0-12 CC) on Parents Day and Military Appreciation Day at the Erskine Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Fleet jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 19-0 win in Game 1 before taking Game 2 by a score of 4-3 on a walk-off single by Ellison Garren.
 
THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Erskine has won all twelve meetings against the Valkyries.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME 1: Erskine 19-0 Converse (Final / 5 innings)
A pair of singles from Kelci Brown and Sydney McInnis in Erskine's first at-bat gave the Fleet a quick 1-0 lead. Brooke Patterson followed with an RBI single of her own before Kyndall Chandler launched a three-run home run over the center field fence to make it a 5-0 game. A Converse error followed by a double steal gave the Fleet two more runs as Kenzie Eagleman stole home on the back end of a delayed double steal. Brown and McInnis each had RBI singles in their second at-bats of the inning and put the Fleet ahead, 9-0 after just one inning. Aly Salois singled home another Erskine run in the third inning, moments before Chandler ripped an RBI double to make it 11-0. And the Fleet weren't done in the inning, as Maddie Ingram singled home Ryleigh Davis before pitcher Kaley Ingle capped the inning with a laser-beam, two-run home run to extend Erskine's lead to 14-0. In the fourth inning, Ingram launched a three-run home run that capped another five-run frame for the Fleet, while Kaley Ingle tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just one hit and striking out 11 batters as Erskine cruised to a 19-0 win in Game 1.

GAME 2: Erskine 4-3 Converse (Final / 8 innings)
The Fleet found offense much harder to come by in the second game of the doubleheader but broke through in the second inning thanks to an RBI single from Ryleigh Davis. Converse, though, struck for a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. It was short-lived though as a Katie Hunter RBI double tied the game at 2. Starting pitcher Kali Morton put up a scoreless top of the fifth inning and the Fleet regained the lead in the bottom half on a Sydney McInnis RBI single to score Kelci Brown. Morton surrendered a pair of walks on the mound in the sixth inning but got a big strikeout to strand a pair of Converse baserunners and maintain the Fleet's lead. Erskine was unable to add to its lead in the bottom half and Converse tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single to force extra innings. Kaley Ingle came on for the eighth inning and put up a scoreless frame, which gave the Fleet a golden opportunity to win it in the bottom half of the inning. And senior Ellison Garren delivered with a rocketed line drive single into left field to score the winning run and give Erskine a 4-3 win in Game 2.

THE PLAYER
Ellison Garren had just one hit, but it couldn't have come at a bigger moment as her eighth-inning single won Game 2 of the doubleheader for Erskine.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine continues its home stretch with a doubleheader against Francis Marion University (20-13, 6-4 CC) on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. The Fleet and Patriots split a doubleheader in Due West last season.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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