DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College softball team (4-12) won both games of a doubleheader against Claflin University (5-8) at the Erskine Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The Fleet scored five runs in the very first inning and never looked back en route to a convincing 15-2 win in Game 1. The back half of the doubleheader forced the Fleet come from behind, but Erskine came roaring to life with 13 runs in their final two innings at the plate to get a 16-8 victory and seal a doubleheader sweep.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Erskine 15-2 Claflin (Final / 5 inn.)
Fresh off the doubleheader sweep over Georgia College on Wednesday, the Erskine offense picked up right where they left off, as five different Erskine players tallied an RBI in the very first inning. Gabby Burroughs added another RBI in the second before Kennedy Crouch launched her second three-run home run in as many games, meaning the Fleet had a commanding 9-0 lead after just two innings. Burroughs drove home two more runs in the third and Panthers' errors in the fourth helped the Fleet scratch across three more runs, as Erskine scored multiple runs in all four innings at the plate. In the circle, a combined effort from Kinsley Kay and Mallory Ruzicka held Claflin down, and the Fleet routed the Panthers in Game 1, 15-2.

Game 2: Erskine 16-8 Claflin (Final / 6 inn.)
The back half of the doubleheader did not start well for the Fleet, who dug themselves into a 6-0 hole after just the top of the first inning. Maddie Ingram hit a solo home run in the bottom half to get the Fleet on the board, but Erskine trailed 7-1 after three innings. Emily Johnson hit her first big fly of the season and Emily Brown's RBI single a few moments later cut the deficit to 7-3 after four frames. Brooke Patterson delivered an RBI single to start the scoring in the fifth for the Fleet, and a bases-loaded walk from Mckinna Taylor was followed by a Johnson sacrifice fly. Kinsley Kay's RBI groundout got Erskine within a run, 8-7. Ali Meeker worked around an error to post a zero in the sixth inning in the circle for the Fleet, and Erskine's offense continued to post crooked numbers. Ellie Rapson's two-run double gave the Fleet a 9-8 lead but Erskine was far from done. Alex Wiley, Emily Brown, and Ingram had consecutive RBI singles to make it 13-8, before the trio of Burroughs, Peyton Rabon, and Brooke Patterson had consecutive run-scoring hits of their own, with Patterson's clinching the win via the run rule, as Erskine exploded for nine runs in the sixth to seal the sweep.

THE PLAYER
Gabby Burroughs led the Fleet offensively again on Saturday, going a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored in a dominant Game 1 win. The junior catcher followed that up with a 2-for-4 performance with a double, two runs scored and one driven in to help bring the Fleet back for a Game 2 win.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine hosts one of the premier teams in the Southeast Region, Lenoir-Rhyne University (9-9), for a doubleheader on Thursday, starting at 1 p.m.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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