Opponent:
Averett vs. Salem | March 2 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Blixt Field | 2 p.m. / 4 p.m.

SALEM SET FOR THIRD DOUBLEHEADER OF SEASON AT BLIXT
The Spirits will host Averett for their third doubleheader series of the season on Saturday, March 2nd. Salem split its first series of the season against Carolina University and suffered a pair of setbacks to Wesleyan (Ga.) in its most recent outing at Blixt Field.

GUILFORD CLAIMS TWO WINS IN RECENT CLASH WITH SPIRITS
The Guilford softball team conducted a doubleheader sweep of Salem on a gusty Wednesday afternoon at Haworth Field by scores of 8-1 and 13-0 in a non-conference clash between the two Triad-based programs.

Guilford, which moved to 16-4 in the all-time series, finished off the afternoon with a combined 29 hits. Between the two games, the Quakers had four multi-run innings, including an eight-run second inning in game two.

Salem was led at the plate by the trio of Savanah Atkins, Madison Long and Karma Morrison. Long provided the only RBI of the day for Salem, which came on a hit by pitch, and delivered a double in the first game.

Meanwhile, Morrison was 2-of-3 from the plate in game one and Atkins was a combined 2-of-4 between the two contests. Atkins' hit in game two prevented the third no-hitter against the Spirits in program history.

GAME 1 | Guilford 8, Salem 1
W: Dillon Northen (2-1) / L: Isabella Morales (L, 2-3) / S: Shiloh Gray (1)
Salem Leaders: Karma Morrison (2-3), Madison Long (1-2, RBI, double), Savanah Atkins (1-2, run)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Karma Morrison enjoys her fourth two-hit game of the season, finishing 2-of-3 from the plate.
-Madison Long has her third double of the season and second in as many games as she finishes 1-for-2 from the plate.
-The Spirits have now notched at least one extra-base hit in eight of their first nine contests.
-The middle of the Salem lineup, which consists of Cassandra Miller (1-3), Savanah Atkins (1-3) and Karma Morrison (2-3) accounted for four of the six hits in the Spirits' lineup.
-Salem scored its lone run of the game in the fourth inning when Long reached on a hit by pitch, which scored Atkins from third on the play.

GAME 2 | Guilford 13, Salem 0 (5 innings)
W: Morgan Kinney (1-0) / L: Cassandra Miller (1-4)
Salem Leaders: Savanah Atkins (1-2), Shelby LaPoint (SB)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Savanah Atkins delivers the lone hit in the Salem lineup.
-Atkins hit from the fifth-spot in the Spirits lineup.
-Starting pitcher Cassandra Miller tossed 1.1 innings, allowing five hits and seven earned runs, striking out one Quaker hitter along the way.
-Kat Price entered the circle for 0.2 innings, surrendering five runs on six hits.
-Katie Gerhardt made her first appearance in the circle on the season, scattering seven hits and one run over two innings of relief.

BREAKING DOWN THE SALEM STATISTICS THROUGH THE FIRST 10 GAMES
-Salem has had at least one extra-base hit in eight of its first 10 games of the season. The second game of the doubleheader with Livingstone and the second game at Guilford are the lone exceptions.
-The Spirits have also slammed six home runs in 10 contests, including two in the second game of the series with St. Andrews on February 22nd.
-While the offense is connecting on extra-base hits, the pitching staff has recorded at least four strikeouts in five games this season. The best single-game performance for the pitching staff came when Kat Price and Isabella Morales combined for 8 K's in the second game of the series with St. Andrews.
-Salem first-year Cassandra Miller has made a smooth transition to the collegiate softball game. Miller has opened her career by reaching base by virtue of a hit in eight of 10 games. She has reached base in nine of the first 10 games of her Salem career, reaching first base versus Livingstone (Game 2) on February 19th—by virtue of a hit by pitch. She was held hitless in the second game of the doubleheader against Guilford.
-Carmen Duffey made her collegiate debut for the Spirits in the second game of the series with Guilford. Duffey had one plate appearance and also drew a walk.
-Katie Gerhardt also made her first appearance of the season for Salem against the Quakers in game two. Gerhardt tossed two innings, allowed seven hits and one earned run in the circle.
-Savanah Atkins ran her current hitting streak to three games, tying her longest of the season, as she delivered the lone hit in the Salem lineup against Guilford in the second game.
-Cassandra Miller and Madeline Brown have the longest current hit streak on the team (four games), which began with a 1-for-3 outing in the first game of the St. Andrews series.

MORALES EARNS SECOND CONSECUTIVE ROOKIE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For the second time in as many weeks and the first time in program history, Salem softball's Isabella Morales was named USA South Conference Rookie Pitcher of the Week in an announcement from the league office on Monday afternoon.

Morales, who also earned the distinction on from the league office on February 19th, becomes the first player in program history to claim the distinction from the USA South Conference in consecutive weeks. Historically, she joins Morgan Coleman (2014), Lauryn Smith (2016) and Brianna Morris (2016), who earned Great South Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, as the only pitchers in Salem softball history to claim a weekly award multiple times in the same campaign.

Morales made three starts over the course of the week and posted a 1-2 record along with 14 strikeouts.

The Oak Park, Illinois, native opened the week with a four-strikeout performance at Livingstone, surrendering just three earned runs along the way. She faced 25 Blue Bear hitters and tallied 53 strikes in 87 pitches.

In her second appearance of the week, on the road at St. Andrews, Morales recorded seven strikeouts in relief. The seven strikeouts tied a single-game season-high for the Salem first-year, who also tallied seven in a clash with Carolina University on February 17th. In five innings against the Knights, Morales scattered five hits and surrendered three runs (two earned runs) while issuing just one walk.

Morales' week came to a close against Wesleyan (Ga.), where she had three strikeouts over 3.1 innings of work. She came through with strikeouts for the Spirits in the first, second and fourth innings.

LOOKING TO CLAIM A DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP
Salem has the opportunity on Wednesday to claim its first doubleheader sweep since taking down Livingstone on March 20,2023 by scores of 13-5 and 15-2. That victory over the Blue Bears came at Blixt Field for head coach Courtney Tucker, which coincidentally marked the first wins of her coaching career.

The last time that Salem went on the road to earn a doubleheader sweep was on March 7, 2020, when the Spirits took down Randolph in Lynchburg, Va., by scores of 3-1 and 7-2 in succession. The 2020 campaign also marked the last time that Salem claimed consecutive road victories, which reached five games.

The five-game winning streak began with a 4-1 win at Huntingdon on February 29th and continued with 4-1 and 5-4 triumphs over Agnes Scott on March 1st. Six days later, the Spirits earned their fourth and fifth road victories against Randolph on March 7th. Salem would win nine straight during that span, claiming home wins against both Ferrum (March 8) and FDU-Florham (March 11).

HEAD-TO-HEAD VERSUS AVERETT
Salem enters the weekend with just four wins in 17 all-time meetings against its former USA South Conference rival.

The Cougars have won the last eight head-to-head meetings in the series, a streak that began with an 8-5 victory in the second game of the series on March 3, 2018 in Averett. Averett has notched at least six runs in each of its last eight games, reaching double figures on two occasions, including a 17-run performance in game two of the doubleheader on February 18, 2023.

Those 17 runs tied the most by either team in the all-time series as the Cougars also scored 17 in the first-ever clash between the two teams on February 21, 2012.

ALL-TIME SERIES (vs. Averett)