DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College softball team (2-12) won both games of a doubleheader against Georgia College (6-8) at the Erskine Softball Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Gabby Burroughs launched a pair of home runs, including a grand slam to help the Fleet rally back from a 7-2 deficit to force extra innings, before Kinsley Kay's walk-off single in the eighth sealed the first win of the year for the Fleet. In Game 2, Erskine used an eight-run fifth to overcome a six-run deficit and seal the doubleheader sweep.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Erskine 8-7 Georgia College (Final / 8 inn.)
The visiting Bobcats began the afternoon with a three-run top of the first, but Hailey Watson got the Fleet on the board in the bottom half with a solo home run. GCSU regained its three-run lead in the top of the fourth, but a big fly from Gabby Burroughs in the bottom half made it a 4-2 game. Georgia College scored twice in the fifth, extending the Fleet's deficit to 7-2, but Erskine again had an answer, this time in a big way. Burroughs cranked a grand slam over the left field fence to get the Fleet within a run, and Summer Nelson came off the bench and hit her first home run of the season to tie the game at 7. Kinsley Kay took over on the mound in the fifth and worked through the next two frames unscathed to send the game to extra innings. After GCSU's courtesy runner in their half of the eighth was thrown out trying to steal home, Kay got a groundout and a lineout to keep the game tied. Kennedy Crouch led off the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice bunt that moved the winning run to third, and Kay followed with a line drive, opposite-field single to score Hayden Kraynick and give Erskine its first win of the season in walk-off fashion.

Game 2: Erskine 8-6 Georgia College
Erskine dug itself into an early 5-0 deficit in Game 2 and started slowly offensively as well, as the GCSU starting pitcher retired the first 11 hitters of the game and held the Fleet out of the hit column through four innings. After another Bobcats run in the top of the fourth made it 6-0, the Fleet came roaring back in the fifth. Kennedy Crouch led off the inning with a base hit, and Brooke Patterson followed by drawing a walk. After a sacrifice bunt from Mallory Ruzicka, Amber Clark smoked a double into the right center field gap, scoring a pair of runs to get Erskine on the board. A few batters later, Maddie Ingram hit an RBI double of her own, trimming the deficit to 6-3. The Bobcats intentionally walked Gabby Burroughs to load the bases with two outs for Ellie Rapson. And the sophomore catcher won a long battle with a clutch two-run single to get the Fleet within a run. The very next batter, Kennedy Crouch, launched a no-doubt three-run blast over the right field fence to give Erskine its first lead of the game, as the Fleet scored eight times in the fifth, five of those runs coming with two outs. A perfect relay from the outfield to home cut down a would-be Bobcats run in the top of the sixth, helping Ruzicka preserve Erskine's two-run advantage going into the seventh. Ruzicka, who came in to pitch in the very first inning, went back out for the seventh, and promptly induced three straight groundouts as the Fleet won a thriller in Game 2 to seal the doubleheader sweep.

THE PLAYER
Junior catcher Gabby Burroughs stole the show in Game 1, going 2-for-4 at the plate with 5 RBIs, including a grand slam in the fifth that helped the Fleet get within a run. Burroughs also had a solo home run in the fourth inning and now has five home runs already this season. Georgia College elected not to pitch to Burroughs in Game 2, who was walked in two of her three plate appearances, but the decision to intentionally walk Burroughs in the fifth ended up being a catalyst for the Fleet's eight-run inning, which proved to be the difference.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine is back at home this weekend, hosting Claflin University (5-7) in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

    Visit the Official Home of Erskine Athletics at www.erskinesports.com
  
    Follow us on Social Media – Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Photos