Patriot bats warm in Sunshine State, sweep Lions

SAINT LEO, FL - Paced by junior right fielder Chelle Phillips' six hits, Francis Marion University banged out 26 hits and scored 18 runs en route to a doubleheader sweep of Saint Leo University, Wednesday afternoon (March 17) in non-conference softball action.  FMU won the opener 7-4 and game two 11-4.

Francis Marion (21-8) will conclude its trip to Florida on Thursday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader at the University of Tampa.

Senior left-hander Michaela Wolf got the game-one win to improve to 12-4.  She allowed nine hits and three earned runs, while striking out seven.  She ups her own FMU career record for pitching victories to 82.

Phillips was 4-for-4 with two runs scored, while sophomore second baseman Ashley Jaramillo was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs.  Senior Jessica Birchmeier was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Trailing 2-1 entering the fifth inning, the Patriots erupted for six runs.  Birchmeier and Kat Beauvais had RBI-doubles in the frame, while Jaramillo plated two runs with a double and Meghan Heiser collected a two-run single. In addition to her double, Birchmeier started the inning with a lead-off triple.

Another six-run outburst, this time in the second inning of game two, proved beneficial to the Patriots.

In that game, Phillips was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two driven in.  Jaramillo was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, while extending her hitting streak to eight contests.  Heiser also had three hits in game two.

Junior righty Cea Knox (9-3) earned the victory in game two, while also going 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate.

Birchmeier doubled home a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh frame.

FMU head coach Stacey Vallee is a former assistant coach at Saint Leo.

         Chelle Phillips