DUE WEST – Senior shortstop Rayth Petersen notched a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning and later recorded his third save during Francis Marion University's 4-2 non-conference win over Erskine College on Tuesday afternoon.
Francis Marion improves to an overall record of 33-11 and will host Chowan University for a threegame Conference Carolinas series beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday and concluding with a doubleheader Saturday.
Alongside Petersen's lone hit, senior designated hitter Noah Stout and sophomore first baseman Charlie Bussey III tallied one hit apiece as Flying Fleet pitchers limited FMU to only three hits.
Patriot senior righthander Josh Adams (4-1) gave up three hits and one unearned run over four innings. In freshman lefthander Jackson Madden's two-inning appearance, he tied his career high of four strikeouts previously set at Young Harris College.
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SOFTBALL
FMU's Strickland, Walling sweep weekly awards
FLORENCE – Francis Marion University junior outfielder Paige Strickland and junior righthander Jenna Walling have been named the Conference Carolina Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 7-13.
Francis Marion , winners of 20 straight and with a 41-3 overall record, also moved up two positions to second in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA)/GoRout NCAA Division II Top 25 poll.
The Patriots trail only top-ranked West Texas A&M University. It is the highest ranking for FMU since the school moved to NCAA affiliation in 1992. Francis Marion earned a No.1 national ranking in the 1988 pre-season NAIA poll.
Strickland, a native of Creedmoor, N.C., batted .440 (11-for-25) in six games last week. She scored six runs with a double, a triple, three home runs, and 14 runs batted in, while recording a .920 slugging percentage. She stole one base and did not commit an error in six fielding chances.
Walling, a native of Johns Island, posted a 2-0 record with one save in four pitching appearances with a 0.44 ERA. She made three starts with two complete games and one shutout. She logged 16.0 innings and allowed only 12 hits and one earned run with 14 strikeouts, while opponents batted only .203 against her.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Three Cobras earn conference honors
ROCK HILL − The South Atlantic Conference on Tuesday named Coker's Jade Bellegy (1st Team Singles & Doubles), Emerson Banning (1st Team Doubles), and Ilona Hernandez-Sanchez (SAC Freshman of the Year) to their respective conference awards.
Bellegy has had a stunning final season of competition, going 15-2 (10-1 SAC) in singles and 13-5 (8-3 SAC) in doubles for a 28-7 (18-4 SAC) total record. She has not recorded a singles loss since March 6, maintaining dominant form by not dropping a single set during that time.
The Benning-Bellegy pairing went 13-5 overall and 8-3 in conference at the first doubles position, with key wins coming against Anderson, Carson-Newman, and Newberry.
Hernandez-Sanchez has played the number two spot for the Cobras as just a freshman. She was 10-5 (5-3 SAC) in singles and 7-4 (4-2 SAC) in doubles with Tamara Macias.
