ST. AUGUSTINE – Shorter University scored 14 runs and pounded out 22 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Flagler College in a non-conference softball doubleheader Wednesday evening at Flagler Field. Shorter won the opener 6-4 in eight innings and then took the nightcap 8-5.
Shorter improved its record to 16-6 while Flagler fell to 5-18.
In the opener, Flagler used a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Back-to-back singles by
Malloree Escue and
Kayla Fuller put runners on second and third base.
Keeley Murray singled home Escue to tie the game at 3-all. But Flagler would strand Fuller at third.
In the top of the eighth, Niki Cook singled home Carson Carriker from third base to give the Lady Hawks a 4-3 lead. Cook went to third base on a steal attempt and the throw by the Flagler catcher was offline and went all the way to the wall allowing two runs to score.
Lauren Roudabush added an RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth, but they couldn't get any closer.
Amanda Blanchard (7-1) tossed 3.2 innings in relief to earn the win. She scattered four hits, allowed two runs and fanned two.
Cook had a pair of singles, scored a run and drove in another. Paige Rowland singled, doubled, and scored a run.
Escue collected four singles, scored a run and drove in another. Roudabush tallied three hits.
Mackenzie Conley went 2-for-5 with a home run.
Tinsley Smith (1-5) tossed four innings, allowed four hits and surrendered three unearned runs.
In the nightcap, Shorter blew open a one-run game with a three-run fifth inning to take control of the game, 7-3.
Kameron Carter hit a two-run home run for Shorter in the inning.
The Saints got two runs back in the sixth on Escue's two-run shot to left, but Flagler could not close the gap.
Blabchard (8-1) picked up her second win in relief as she tossed 3.2 innings, surrendered three hits and two runs. Kalei Kimbrell pitched two scoreless innings in relief to notch her second save of the season.
Carter added a single to go along with her home run. Janell Echols collected a pair of singles while Kendall Johnson singled, homered, and scored three runs.
Katelynn Smith (2-6) took the loss in the circle for the Saints.
Conley went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the first inning. Fuller singled, doubled and scored a run.
Flagler takes on Lees-McRae College tomorrow (March 12) at 4 p.m. at Drysdale Field.
