Salisbury, Md. -- University of Lynchburg's softball team started off a big weekend in a big way, sweeping No. 10 The College of New Jersey by scores of 8-7 and 3-1 on the opening day of Salisbury University's Optimist Club of Salisbury Sea Gull Classic.
Olivia Herman led the way for Lynchburg's offense, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI, and two walks. Kayla Hugate was 3-for-6 on the day and drove in a run, and Jordyne Vance went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the opener.
The Hornet bats got things going in the first inning of Game 1 as Vance and Herman delivered RBI knocks for an early 2-0 lead.
Lynchburg (8-4) broke the game open with five runs in the third, kicked off by Vance's second RBI double of the ballgame. Cortney Rawes and Herman both drove in runs in the big inning, and the Hornets added two more on TCNJ fielding miscues for a 7-0 lead.
The Lions (3-2) struck back with two in the third and one in the fourth, and after Lynchburg added an insurance run in the top of the fifth, TCNJ continued its charge.
A pair of Hornets errors in the fifth brought home two more runs, and the Lions chased Lynchburg starter Alex Cisar from the ballgame with back-to-back hits to start the sixth, cutting the Hornet lead to 8-6.
Kayley Cox took the circle and pitched out of the jam in the sixth, but TCNJ rallied with one out in the seventh. A hit-by-pitch, a Hornets error, and a walk loaded the bases for Alanna Namit, who delivered a pinch-hit RBI single that cut the lead to one. Cox stranded the bases loaded, however, with a strikeout and a flyout to cinch the victory.
Cisar earned the win, scattering seven hits in five-plus innings and allowing just three earned runs. Cox picked up the save.
Lynchburg played a much cleaner nightcap behind freshman Angela Sperandeo, who twirled a complete game, scattering nine hits to earn her first collegiate win. She allowed just one unearned run.
The Hornets offense got Sperandeo a lead in the fourth inning, sparked by Herman's leadoff walk. Morgan Mitchell delivered a one-out double to bring Herman in, and Jordan Brown added an RBI single two batters later to double the lead. Hugate drove Brown in with an RBI single, but the rally was cut short when the Lions caught Hugate in a rundown to end the inning.
TCNJ's lone run came in the top of the fifth, again on an RBI single off Namit's bat.
Sperandeo pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the sixth and then induced three straight flyouts in the seventh to finish the complete game.
The wins improved Lynchburg to 3-0 this season against teams ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's top 25 poll.
The Hornets will continue action Sunday in the Optimist Club of Salisbury Sea Gull Classic with a noon doubleheader against SUNY Cortland at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex.
--LYN--
