Site: Winston-Salem, N.C. | Blixt Field

Scores:
Salem 13, Livingstone 5
Salem 15, Livingstone 2

Records: Salem (2-8) / Livingstone (1-4)

Next Games:
Salem vs. Agnes Scott | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Blixt Field | March 26 | 12 p.m. / 2 p.m.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — 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.

GAME 1: Salem 13, Livingstone 5
W: Alli Stertzbach (1-4) / L: Madalyn Payne (0-2)
Salem Leaders: Shelby LaPoint (2-3, 5 RBI, 2 runs, GS, double), Cree Bass (2-3, 2 RBI, run, double), Madeline Brown (2-3, 2 runs, double), Carlee McWilliam (1-2, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Jessica Pinnix (1-1, 2 RBI)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-First year slugger Shelby LaPoint became the third different Salem hitter this year with a home run, connecting on a grand slam in the first inning that scored Brown, Savanah Atkins and McWilliam to give Salem a 4-1 lead.
-McWilliam extended her hitting streak to five consecutive games with a single past short in the first inning. In the second, McWilliam brought home the fifth Salem run, in the form of Jocelyn Rogers, making for a 5-2 advantage.
-Salem received doubles in the fourth inning from both Brown and Bass, with Bass scoring Atkins and Brown for two runs.
-Pinnix drove a two-run single through the right side of the infield, scoring both Bass and Lauryn Fisher.
-Spirits added another four runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a double from LaPoint.
-LaPoint's double scored McWilliam after Atkins crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
-Fisher reached on a throw error at first, scoring LaPoint, scoring herself on a throw error by the catcher.
-Stertzbach claimed her first collegiate win, tossing five innings, allowing six hits and five runs (three earned runs), striking out two Blue Bear batters.

LIVINGSTONE HIGHLIGHTS
-Livingstone had six hits over the course of the game, including a pair from Ashleigh Clark, who was 2-for-3 as the No. 2 hitter, and Cameran Jordan-Ruffin (2-2, 2 RBI, 1 run).
-Both Clark and Jordan-Ruffin came through with doubles for the Blue Bears.
-Madalyn Payne (0-2) suffered the setback after allowing nine runs (eight earned runs) on nine hits.
-Payne struck out five Salem batters in the contest.

GAME 2: Salem 15, Livingstone 2
W: Kat Price (1-3) / L: Stephanie Barksdale (0-1)
Salem Leaders: Cree Bass (2-2, 2 RBI, 3 runs), Carlee McWilliam (2-3, RBI, 2 runs), Kat Price (2-3, RBI, run), Jocelyn Rogers (2-2, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Madeline Brown (1-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Savanah Atkins (1-4, 2 RBI).

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Salem pounded out a single-game season-high 12 hits after coming through with 10 hits in the first game of the day.
-Cree Bass posted the second three-hit game of her Salem career, equaling a 3-for-4 outing against Carolina University (April 24, 2022). It marks the first time that Bass has had multi-hit performances in consecutive games.
-Kat Price picked up her first of the season win in the circle, allowing just two runs on seven hits and issuing one Blue Bear walk. Price closed the game with 42 strikes on 63 pitches.
-With a 2-for-3 outing, which resulted in two runs and an RBI, Carlee McWilliam extends her hitting streak to six straight games.
-Jocelyn Rogers enjoyed the first multi-hit outing of her collegiate career, resulting in two RBI for the Spirits.
-The Spirits had their biggest inning to date of the season, scoring seven runs in the first, which came by virtue of five hits.
-Three hitters, including McWilliam, Bass and Jessica Pinnix, were responsible for RBI singles in the first. Brown delivered a single to third, which plated both Pinnix and Rogers, while Savannah Atkins brought home brown on a grounder to third.
-Both Bass and Rogers recorded RBI singles in the second, while Lauryn Fisher scored Bass on a fielder's choice, helping Salem tally four runs in the frame.
-Rogers came through with her second RBI in the fourth, plating Bass on a single to left, while Atkins accounted for an RBI with a base knock to third that brought home Brown.

LIVINGSTONE HIGHLIGHTS
-Livingstone managed seven hits in the contest, but no hitter had a multi-hit performance.
-The only two hitters not to record a hit for the Blue Bears were their leadoff and No. 9 sluggers.
-Three pitchers entered the circle, including Stephanie Barksdale, who took the loss after allowing seven runs on five hits.