HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – The Erskine College softball team (1-7) split games against Carson-Newman (6-1) and USC Beaufort (5-3) to conclude a weekend tournament hosted by the Sandsharks at the Richard Gray Softball Complex on Saturday.

After suffering an 8-4 loss to the Eagles to begin the day, Erskine held off a late push from USC Beaufort to force extra innings and exploded for five runs in the top of the eighth in an 8-3 win in the Fleet's final action of the weekend.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Carson-Newman 8-4 Erskine
A day after being run-ruled by the same two teams, Erskine showed much more fight on Saturday. Despite falling behind to Carson-Newman early, the Fleet offense came to life after the third inning to make things interesting. Riley Rabon got the Fleet on the board with a fourth-inning RBI single and then Savannah Koester doubled home two more runs in the fifth to get Erskine within three. The Eagles regained their five-run lead in the seventh but Erskine did not go quietly in the bottom half. Gabby Burroughs hit an RBI double to get the tying run to on-deck circle, but the Fleet were unable to get it to the plate despite a late push.

Game 2: Erskine 8-3 USC Beaufort (Final / 8 innings)
In the final game of the weekend, Gabby Burroughs picked up right where she left off, launching a first-inning home run to give the Fleet an early lead. In the circle for Erskine was Zalee Brown, who made that 1-0 lead stand up through four innings. In the top of the fifth, Erskine added to its lead thanks to a two-run double from Riley Rabon. The Sandsharks rallied back with runs in the bottom half of the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game, but Layla Clayton worked a scoreless seventh to send the game to extras. After a sacrifice bunt moved the courtesy runner to third, Ellie Rapson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Gracie Merrell home, putting the Fleet back on top. And Erskine was far from done, embarking on an impressive two-out rally to break the game wide open. Emily Johnson and Savannah Koester singled to make it 5-3, and then Hannah Lewis roped a two-run double to give the Fleet some cushion. Burroughs' RBI single moments later put a bow on an explosive five-run inning for the Fleet, and Clayton struck out a pair in the bottom half to seal the Fleet's first win of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine visits Lenoir-Rhyne University (3-5) for a pair of games on Wednesday, starting at 2 p.m.

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