WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Randolph College softball team upped its record to 15-3 as it took both ends of a non-conference doubleheader with Salem College Sunday afternoon. Randolph earned the victory in the first game 8-6 before taking the second contest 8-2.

                The opening game saw the WildCats open up a big lead, scoring seven runs over the first three innings. In the top of the first, Randolph (15-3) scored four runs, all coming on the first collegiate homer and grand slam from first-year Rachel Hickman (St. Albans, WV/St. Albans).

                Two innings later, the visiting WildCats scored three runs as Jess Sanabria (Burgaw, NC/Pender) and Ashley Gardner (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) each posted RBI singles during the frame. The Spirits (4-12) scored the next six runs of the game to cut the lead to 7-6, but Randolph added an insurance run in the top of the seventh and dispatched of Salem in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom half.

                Hickman was two-for-four with two runs and the four RBI from her grand slam, while fellow first-year Ashton Ewers (Gladys, VA/William Campbell) added two hits in three at-bats. Gardner ended with two hits as well for Randolph, which had nine hits and walked six times on the afternoon. Randolph also didn't commit an error, the fourth consecutive contest without a gaffe and the 12th outing this season with a miscue.

                In the second game, Randolph fell behind 2-0 after Salem plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. The WildCats would get on the board in the fourth inning with a single run, as Jessica Nowak (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) scored on a Spirit's error. Randolph exploded for five runs in the fifth inning highlighted by a two-run single from Nowak and three-run, pinch-hit double from Sanabria.

                The WildCats finished their scoring on the afternoon with two more in the sixth inning, as Hickman and Patti Vinson (Wiliamsburg, VA/Lafayette) both scored on a two-out single from junior catcher Alexis Arnett (Virginia Beach, VA/First Colonial).

                Hickman was two-for-four in the nightcap, scoring twice, while Arnett chalked up a two-for-three game. Nowak added two RBI and two runs scored, and Vinson scored a pair of runs. Both teams struggled in the field in game two, combining for eight errors. Junior Kristen Hutchinson (Rockville, MD/Richard Montgomery) allowed two earned runs on the contest for Randolph, scattering six hits in six innings to get the win.              

                Randolph will get six days off after 12 games over the last eight days before taking on Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA this upcoming Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opener for the WildCats.

--RANDOLPH--