Opponent:
Salem at Guilford | February 28 | Greensboro, N.C. | Haworth Field | 12 p.m. / 2 p.m.

SPIRITS MAKE I-40 TRIP TO GREENSBORO
The Salem softball team makes the short trek up I-40 to Greensboro to face Guilford for a doubleheader clash at Haworth Field on Wednesday afternoon. The games were moved to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., due to inclement weather in the Triad. It will mark the 19th and 20th time that the two teams have met on the diamond.

Salem is in search of its first win at Guilford since game two of a doubleheader series on February 12, 2017, where the Spirits earned a 9-3 victory. The Spirits have never swept Guilford in program history.

WESLEYAN (Ga.) COMES AWAY WITH SWEEP OF SALEM
Salem first-year standout Cassandra Miller finished off a two-game performance on Sunday with three hits, four RBI along with a three-run home run in the first game of the series, but it was an all-around effort by Wesleyan (Ga.) that resulted in a Wolves' sweep by scores of 10-4 and 13-4 when the two teams met at Blixt Field.

Miller wrapped up the first game of the day with a three-run home run, while the Spirits pounded out seven hits. Joining her with an extra-base hit in the contest was Madeline Brown, who finished 1-for-4 with a run scored and a double.

Brown also notched a double in game two, as did teammate Madison Long, who also drove a triple down the left field line, as Salem finished with three extra-base hits in the setback to the Wolves. Miller, who hit clean-up in game two, was 2-for-4 from the plate with an RBI.

GAME 1 | Wesleyan (Ga.) 10, Salem 4
W: Kayla Ocanas (1-0) / L: Cassandra Miller (1-3)
Salem Leaders: Cassandra Miller (1-2, 3 RBI, run, HR), Karma Morrison (2-3)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-The Spirits tallied seven hits, receiving two from Karma Morrison, who was 2-of-3 at the plate.
-The Top-4 hitters in the Salem lineup accounted for four hits and all four runs.
-Cassandra Miller closed out her day in the circle by going 5.2 innings, allowing 13 hits, eight runs, six earned runs and issuing three walks. Miller faced 33 batters.
-Spirits score three runs in the home half of the first after leading the inning off with a walk by Maleah Tate. Taela Belcher put two Salem runners on base with a bunt single, moving Tate to third.
-Cassandra Miller blasted her second home run of the season to plate both Tate and Belcher and cap off the three-run first frame.
-Madeline Brown led off the third with double to left centerfield, moving to third on a sacrifice by Miller. Savanah Atkins brought Brown home on a sacrifice to left field, resulting in the fourth run of the game for the Spirits.

GAME 2 | Wesleyan 13, Salem 4
W: Makayla Tomlinson (1-0) / L: Isabella Morales (1-2)
Salem Leaders: Cassandra Miller (2-4, RBI), Madison Long (2-3, run, double, triple), Madeline Brown (1-4, double)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-The Spirits sliced Wesleyan's lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Karma Morrison reached on a single to left and motored to second on a bunt down the first base line by Shelby LaPoint.
-With Amy McLamb at the plate, and the bases loaded, McLamb was hit by a pitch that resulted in the first Salem run.
-Senior Madeline Brown manufactured the second Salem run of the game in the fifth, connecting on a double to left field to lead off the inning. Brown moved to second on a grounder before scoring from third base on a sacrifice fly to left centerfield by Savanah Atkins.
-Madison Long roped a triple down the left field line to lead off the home half of the sixth, reaching third on a stand-up triple. Long scored on a grounder to third by Ashlyn Stokes.
-Taela Belcher reached second on a series of errors by the Wesleyan pitcher, scoring two batters later with a single up the middle by Cassandra Miller to provide the lone run of the seventh inning.

TRENDS THROUGH EIGHT GAMES FOR THE SPIRITS
-Salem has had at least one extra-base hit in seven of its first eight games of the season. The second game of the doubleheader with Livingstone is the lone exception to this as the Blue Bears held Salem to just one hit, a single.
-The Spirits have also slammed six home runs in eight 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 four 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 seven of eight games. She has reached base in all eight games of her Salem career, reaching first base of the only game she went hitless—versus Livingstone (Game 2) on February 19th—by virtue of a hit by pitch.
-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 WITH GUILFORD
Guilford owns a 14-4 advantage in the all-time head-to-head series between the two programs, winning its last six straight.

The Quakers began their current six-game winning streak with a 10-5 win in the opening game of the doubleheader at Blixt Field on February 19, 2020. Guilford followed that with a 12-9 victory in game two and since that point has reached double figures in runs twice, which game in the first game (12) on February 26, 2022 and second game (16) on March 11, 2023.

The Quakers enter Wednesday's game with a 3-1 mark and a perfect 2-0 record at Haworth Field in 2024. The two home wins came against Mary Baldwin on February 23rd, both in 2-1 fashion. Guilford faced Meredith on Sunday with the Avenging Angels taking game one of the series by a 13-4 margin before Guilford notched a 10-1 victory in game two.

Through the first four games, Guilford is led at the plate by Kassidy Lancos (.667 batting average), Kaci Johnson (.455), Lani Procell (.400) and Morgan Singletary (.400). Grace Calus is the only hitter on the squad with multiple extra-base hits, delivering two doubles.

Shiloh Gray (2-0) has entered the circle twice for the Quakers, logging 13 innings, allowing 11 hits and three earned runs along the way. Gray's 1.62 ERA is due in large part to no extra-base hits allowed. Teammate Dillon Northen (1-1) has also made two appearances for the Quakers, logging 8.1 innings where she has allowed 14 hits, seven runs (four earned runs) and converted two strikeouts.

ALL-TIME SERIES (vs. Guilford)