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Softball extends streak to five with sweep of Southern Wesleyan
By Matt Green
Game 1 Box Score (n/a)
CENTRAL, S.C. -- The ninth-ranked Shorter softball team improved to 23-5 overall and 5-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference with a Saturday sweep of Southern Wesleyan in Central, S.C. The Lady Hawks won Game 1 by a 9-0 margin before taking Game 2 10-1.
In the opener, Shorter got a grand slam from Jackie Castaneda and another shutout from Kristen Little en route to a 9-0 victory.
Castaneda's grand slam, her sixth homer of the season, put Shorter up 8-0 in the third. The Lady Hawks had scored three in the first as Brooke Bryan drove in a pair and Emily Clements stroked an RBI double and went up 4-0 in the second on Castaneda's RBI single.
Shorter's final run came on Bre Johnson's sacrifice fly in the fourth and Little kept the Warriors scoreless by allowing just two hits and striking out seven. It was Little's fifth shut out of the season as she improved to 6-1.
Castaneda racked up five RBI and went 2-for-3 at the plate. Charlsie Broome, Amanda Dailey and Clements finished with two hits for the Lady Hawks.
In the nightcap, Shorter continued to pile on the runs with the help of four RBI from Dailey and completed the sweep with a 10-1 victory.
Dailey went 3-for-4 and scored three runs to spur the Lady Hawks. Her RBI double in the second put the Lady Hawks up 3-0 and her RBI single in the fourth scored Castaneda and Broome to extend Shorter's lead to 5-0. Dailey completed her day with an RBI single to spark a three-run Shorter fifth that was capped by an RBI double from Clements and RBI single from Whitney Hood to make it 10-1.
Lauren Millsaps was solid in the circle for Shorter in Game 2, going all five innings and allowing only two hits. She struck out two and threw an efficient 69 pitches to pick up the win.
Shorter returns to the diamond on Tuesday, March 20 as it hosts league rival and No. 5-ranked Brenau at Alto Park Softball Complex in a doubleheader beginning at 5 pm.
