Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan swept past the Chowan Hawks to pick up two more Conference Carolinas victories in 9-7 and 11-9 final scores.

The Warriors posted 11 hits in game one with four different batters recording two hits apiece.  Megan New, Lydia Clanton and Ashton Martin all doubled during the game.   New led the team with three RBIs while Clanton followed with two.  Savannah Huff walked twice.  Megan Vaughn started the first game, collecting five strikeouts over 3.1 innings.  Ashton Martin and Emma Collins both pitched in relief.  Collins picked up the win after 1.2 innings of work and striking out three.

Southern Wesleyan recorded 15 hits in the second game of the afternoon with both Savannah Huff and Addi Johnson collecting four hits.  Delaney Byers doubled and Johnson tripled during the game.  Both Huff and Ashton Martin hit home runs in the game two victory.  Johnson and Martin both had three RBIs during the game.  Lydia Clanton walked three times and the Warriors had 10 stolen bases during the game.  Johnson led the team with four stolen bases during the game.  Delanie Laudenbacher started the game for the Warriors and collected four strikeouts.  Emma Collins came in to do middle relief before Laudenbacher re-entered to pick up the save.

 
Game Vitals

Game One: Southern Wesleyan 9, Chowan 7

Game Two: Southern Wesleyan 11, Chowan 9

Records: Southern Wesleyan (10-4 / CC 4-0) Chowan (6-12-1 / CC 0-4)

 
Coach Adkins says…

"I'm really proud of how we played together as one this weekend.  When we got down today on the scoreboard, our players kept their heads up and just locked in mentally and got it done.  Obviously offensively it was a special weekend.  The great thing is that it was hitters all up and down the line-up."


 
How It Happened

Game One
Chowan took the first run of the game on a home run off Luskin's bat in the top of the third inning.  The Hawks pushed further ahead in the top of the fourth inning as a triple by Wilhelm brought two in and then a ground out scored a fourth run.

However, the Warriors fought back in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Savannah Huff led off the inning with a single through the left side and then advanced to second as Megan New singled down the left field line.  With two on, Emma Collins laid down a bunt single to load up the bases and bring Addi Johnson up to bat.  Johnson hit into a fielder's choice that took New out but allowed Huff to come in to put the Warriors down 4-1.  With one out, Lydia Clanton doubled to left field to bring both Johnson and Collins home and put the Warriors within one run of the Hawks.  Ashton Martin doubled to allow Clanton to come home and tie the game 4-4.

Chowan regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning as they brought two more runs in to score.  They went on to score a seventh run in the top of the sixth inning. 

However, the Warriors would not be silenced as they battled back in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Lydia Clanton led off with a single and then advanced to second on a single by Ashton Martin.  With two on, Addie Nugent singled up the middle to bring Clanton home to put the Warriors down 7-5.  A sacrifice bunt off Emma Jo Wolfe's bat allowed both Nugent and Martin to get into scoring position.  Delaney Byers singled to the short stop to load up the bases.  With the bases loaded and one out, Savannah Huff walked to bring Martin home.  Megan New knocked a deep doubled to left field to bring all three runners home to give the Warriors a 9-7 run victory in game one.

 
Game Two
Southern Wesleyan picked up the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning.  Savannah Huff singled down the left field line and then stole second.  A single by Emma Collins allowed Huff to come in to score and give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.

The Hawks pushed ahead in the top of the second inning as a single by Devor brought one run in to tie the game.  They continued to push ahead as a single to Luskin brought in two more runs to give Chowan a 3-1 run lead.

The Warriors slowly started chipping away in the bottom of the second inning.  Addi Johnson led off with a single.  Johnson then proceeded to steal both second and third bases to get within scoring position.  Lydia Clanton walked to put runners on the corners and bring Ashton Martin up to bat.  Martin hit a sacrifice fly out to left field to bring Johnson home and put the Warriors within one run of the Hawks.

Naifeh doubled through the left side to allow the Hawks to distance themselves further by bringing two more runs in and give them a 5-2 run lead in the top of the third.

Southern Wesleyan was not discouraged as they continued to push ahead offensively.  With two outs, Emma Collins singled through the left side and then stole second base.  With Collins on second, Addi Johnson tripled to bring Collins in.  However, on the throw to the plate, Johnson came in to score to put the Warriors down 5-4.  Lydia Clanton followed with a walk.  With Clanton on first base, Ashton Martin homered to left field to bring Clanton home and put the Warriors on top 6-5.

The Warriors pushed their lead further in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Delaney Byers led off with a double to left field.  Byers advanced to third on a single by Savannah Huff.  With runners on the corners, Megan New walked to load up the bases.  Addi Johnson singled through the left side to bring Byers home.  With the bases loaded, Lydia Clanton singled to right center to allow Huff to score.  On a throw from the catcher to the pitcher, the pitcher lost the ball to allow Johnson to come home and give the Warriors a 9-5 run lead.

Southern Wesleyan pushed their lead to six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.  With two out, Delaney Byers walked and then stole second base.  Savannah Huff hit a deep home run to left center to bring Byers home and put the Warriors on top 11-5.

Chowan challenged in the top of the seventh inning as they brought in four more runs.  However, Delanie Laudenbacher struck out the side to give the Warriors an 11-9 victory.


 
What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will remain at home on March 16 as they host the Augusta Jaguars in non-conference action at noon and 2 p.m.  They will then travel to Bristol, TN on March 19 to resume Conference Carolinas action as they take on the King Tornado, and then to Banner Elk, NC on March 20 to take on the Lees-McRae Bobcats.  Southern Wesleyan will remain on the road on March 27 to take on the University of Mount Olive Trojans.