LaGrange, Ga. -- Elizabeth Wills and Lauren Kuerzi each collected three hits in two games to lead the Georgia Southwestern State University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of LaGrange College Saturday.
The Lady Canes (9-6) took the first game 8-1 and followed it up with a 4-0 win in game two earning their eighth straight victory. Madason Messer and Brittany Childs each picked up victories in the circle, allowing just one earned run on the day while striking out seven LaGrange (2-6) batters.
Wills blasted her fifth homer of the season in the second game, tying teammate Hayley Tierce for the team lead.
How It Happened:
Game 1: Georgia Southwestern 8 LaGrange College 1
The Lady Canes got on the board first in the second inning when Cassidy Burton hit a sacrifice fly to left bringing in Payton Singletary. LaGrange answered in the bottom half on a Taylor Tallant RBI single to even the score 1-1.
GSW broke the game open in the fifth, scoring six runs on two hits and four Panther errors. The first run came across when Kuerzi reached on an error by the second baseman, allowing Tierce to score from second. Wills and Singletary followed with back-to-back RBI singles and three runs came in when Mikela Barlow reached on an error by the left fielder to make the score 7-1.
Kuerzi led off the sixth with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, then advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a Singletary single to make it 8-1 GSW. Singletary went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Messer scattered eight hits while giving up just one earned run over seven innings to earn her third win (3-1).
Game 2: Georgia Southwestern 4 LaGrange College 0
Elizabeth Wills gave starter Brittany Childs all the run support she would need in the second inning, leading off with her fifth homer of the season. Childs recorded her second straight complete game and has allowed just one run in her last 14 innings pitched after getting the shutout Saturday.
The Lady Canes tacked on another run in sixth after Wills doubled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Singletary and scored on a Graysen Sanders single to make it 2-0.
The final two insurance runs came across in the seventh. Barlow led off the inning and scored on a Kuerzi double before Allee Denney singled to bring home Kuerzi for the final run of the game. Denney went 2-for-2 at the plate after replacing Shannon Gibson who was lifted due to an injury while Wills was 2-for-2 with the two extra base hits and two runs scored.
Up Next: The Lady Canes travel to Montevallo for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday with the first game scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.