Opponent:
Salem at Livingstone | February 19 | Salisbury, N.C. | 1 p.m. / 3 p.m.

SPIRITS HEAD TO LIVINGSTONE, BUILD OFF WIN OVER CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
The Salem softball team makes the short trek up I-40 to Salisbury, N.C., to clash with Livingstone for the second time in program history. The Spirits are looking to build the momentum established in the come-from-behind victory in the nightcap of the series with Carolina University, which resulted in a 9-8 Salem victory. 

BREAKING DOWN THE 2024 SCHEDULE
This past weekend marked the first of eight schedule home doubleheaders for the Spirits in 2024. Salem will host both Carolina University and Wesleyan (Ga.) in February.

Salem will host a pair of home doubleheaders in March, welcoming Averett on March 2nd and Meredith 27 days later to close out the month.

April marks the month with the most home doubleheaders for Salem, which includes clashes with USA South Conference rivals Pfeiffer (April 6), Southern Virginia (April 10), William Peace (April 20) and Mary Baldwin (April 24).

Salem will make 11 road trips over the course of the slate, including their first road trip of the season, which will send the Spirits to Salisbury, N.C., for a meeting with Livingstone on Monday, February 19th.

SPIRITS EARN SPLIT WITH CAROLINA UNIVERSITY IN SEASON-OPENING SERIES
With the bases loaded and an eight-all tie in the bottom of the seventh of game two, sophomore Maleah Tate laid down a bunt that scored Savanah Atkins from third, to complete a come-from-behind victory for the Spirits, who split the series with crosstown foe Carolina University.

Tate capped off a three-run seventh, which began with a single to centerfield by senior Madeline Brown. With Brown on the base pads, Cassandra Miller drove a two-run home run over the right centerfield wall to even the contest at 8-8. Atkins drew a walk and moved to third on a single to right field by Karma Morrison. Two batters later, Rheanne Tullock loaded the bases with a walk of her own.

The speedy Tate stepped into the batter's box with two outs and dropped a bunt back to the pitcher, allowing Atkins to score the game-winning run. The victory capped off a complete game victory for first-year pitcher Isabella Morales, who struck out seven batters along the way.

GAME 1 | Carolina 13, Salem 8
W: Danielle Brooks (1-1) / L: Cassandra Miller (0-1)
Salem Leaders: Taela Belcher (2-4, RBI, 2 runs), Ashlyn Stokes (2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Cassandra Miller (2-3, 2 RBI), Kat Price (5.2 IP, 10 hits allowed, four earned runs)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Cassandra Miller collected the first hit of the Spirits on the season, which came on a flare into shallow left field.
-Taela Belcher delivered the first extra-base hit, a triple to right centerfield, which came to lead off the fourth inning. Belcher scored the first run of the game for the Spirits on a steal of home.
-Salem closed out the game with eight hits, receiving two hits each from the combination of Stokes, Belcher and Miller.
-The top-third of the Salem lineup, which consisted of Maleah Tate (1-4), Belcher (2-4) and Stokes (2-4) combined for five of the team's eight hits.
-Miller made her debut in the circle and faced 16 batters over 1.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, eight runs (six earned runs) and notching one strikeout.
-Salem had a four-run fifth inning which came on three hits. The first of the runs came when Tate crossed the plate on a double down the left field line by Belcher. Stokes reached on a single to shortstop, which moved Belcher to third.
-After Belcher scored from third on a fielding error, Miller singled to centerfield, scoring both Karma Morrison and Ashlyn Stokes for the Spirits.

GAME 2 | Salem 9, Carolina 8
W: Isabella Morale (1-0) / L: Mary Miller (0-1)
Salem Leaders: Madeline Brown (4-4, 2 RBI, run, two 3B), Maleah Tate (4-5, 2 RBI, 2 run, 2 SB), Taela Belcher (2-4, RBI, two runs), Cassandra Miller (1-4, 2 RBI, run, HR), Ashlyn Stokes (2-4, run)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Spirits finish with 15 hits, marking the first time since a 15-2 win over Livingstone on March 20, 2023, that Salem has had double-digit hits in a single game.
-Madeline Brown becomes the fifth different player in Salem softball history to have two triples in a game. She joins Abby Settles (2012), Allie Watkins (2013) and Hannah Nolan (2016) as the only players to have two in a single game. Alli Stertzbach owns the program record with three triples in a game.
-The Top-3 hitters, which consisted of Maleah Tate, Taela Belcher and Madeline Brown accounted for 10 of Salem's 15 hits in the game.
-The four-hit outing by Tate establishes a single-game career-high for the outfielder. Tate has three multi-hit games in her Salem career, notching two in 2023.
-Isabella Morales faced 33 batters over the course of the game, making 96 pitches along the way. Morales tallied 66 strikes in her 96 pitches on the contest.
-Morales allowed just two multi-hit innings by the Bruins in her first collegiate start.
-Tate led off the game with a bunt single and followed with two steals before she scored on a passed ball.
-Brown drove home Belcher, who reached on a single to left in the third, with a triple to left, tying the game at 2-2.
-Belcher connected on a double down the left field line in the home half of the fifth, scoring Tate, before Brown's second triple of the game scored Belcher for the fourth Salem run.
-Salem came through with three hits in the sixth, including a single to third by Stokes and a single to short by Tullock. Morales helped her cause with a sacrifice bunt that scored Stokes from third.
-Tate dropped a single into centerfield, scoring Tullock, as Salem pulled to within two, 8-6.

SALEM IN SEASON OPENERS
After splitting the opening series with Carolina University on Saturday, the Spirits are 8-15-1 dating back to the program's induction, which came in 2012, in season-opening series. They have claimed two sweeps to open the season, the first of which came in 2013 against William Peace by scores of 9-1 and 2-1. The most recent season-opening sweep for Salem came in 2019, when Salem downed Southern Virginia on February 15th by scores of 10-0 and 10-0.

Averett marked the first opponent for Salem in the 2015 campaign, earning a 3-0 victory in the first game before the two reached a 4-4 deadlock in the second, where the game was suspended in the sixth inning.

SALEM GOES IN SEARCH OF ROAD WINS IN SALISBURY
The Spirits head to Salisbury, N.C., to face Livingstone on Monday afternoon in search of their sixth wins in a road season opener in program history.

Salem last won a road season opener in 2018, claiming a 6-3 victory over Averett. The last time that the Spirits swept a road season opener was in 2013, following a pair of 9-1 and 2-1 wins at William Peace.

SPIRITS PICKED NINTH IN USA SOUTH CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
The Spirits were picked in a ninth-place tie in the 2024 USA South Conference Coaches Preseason Poll alongside Brevard.

Salem capped off the 2023 season with 4-28 mark and a 1-17 record in USA South Conference action. The Spirits ended the slate with three home wins, which came against Livingstone (twice) and Brevard in March.

LINEUP RETURNING NEARLY INTACT FOR SPIRITS IN 2024
The Spirits return 10 of 12 players from the 2023 squad, including four of the Top-5 hitters, in 2024. Furthermore, head coach Courtney Tucker will have three pitchers who made at least 14 appearances a season ago at her disposal in the circle.

While Salem lost its top returning hitter from 2023, Carlee McWilliam, due to injury, the Spirits have the combination of Madeline Brown (.325), Savanah Atkins (.244), Kat Price (.237) and Maleah Tate (.214) returning for 2024. That quarter combined for 53 of Salem's 92 runs scored last season and collected a combined 71 hits along the way.

Brown was the top extra-base hitter on the team with nine, while Atkins capped off the slate with eight, including four home runs. Atkins also led the way with 15 RBI, finishing with four more than teammate Shelby LaPoint. Both Brown and Cree Bass finished with the third-most RBI on the season, recording seven apiece.

Stertzbach led Salem in the circle with 32 strikeouts on the campaign, earning the starting nod on 11 occasions. She logged 51 innings along the way and struck out 4.39 batters per seven innings. Gerhardt totaled 19 strikeouts, while Price added 13 of her own. Price closed out the 2023 season with the most innings pitched (78.1) of any hurler.

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH LIVINGSTONE
Salem heads to Livingstone for the first time in program history after sweeping the Blue Bears in a series on March 20, 2023.

In a clash at Blixt Field, Salem opened the series with a 13-5 win and quickly followed that with a 15-2 victory in game two, both games being cut to five innings.

MARCH 20, 2023 SERIES RECAP: Salem softball combined for 28 runs and 22 hits, including four extra-base hits, to complete a doubleheader sweep of Livingstone by scores of 13-5 and 15-2 when the two teams met at Blixt Field on Monday, March 20th. The victories mark the first of the season for the Spirits as well as the first in the head coaching career of Salem's Courtney Tucker.

Salem capitalized on a grand slam home run by Shelby LaPoint, along with doubles from Cree Bass, Madeline Brown and Carlee McWilliam to earn the 13-5 win in game one. First year pitcher Alli Stertzbach took advantage of the run support and limited the Blue Bears to just five runs on six hits while converting two strikeouts for her first collegiate victory.

The Spirits completed the doubleheader sweep, their first since sweeping Mary Baldwin on April 20, 2022, by recording 12 singles in a 15-2 triumph in game two. Cree Bass, who finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored, was one of four Salem sluggers with a pair of RBI. Teammates Madeline Brown (1-3, 2 runs), Savanah Atkins (1-4) and Jocelyn Rogers (2-2, 2 runs) also came through with two RBI in the contest.

Salem notched back-to-back double-digit run performances for the first time since the 2019 season. In that season, Salem opened the Fast Pitch Dreams Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with 12 runs against Kentucky Christian on March 19th. The Spirits followed by scoring 12 runs against Maine-Presque Isle and 10 in a victory over Frostburg State.