WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Meredith softball opened up conference play on Saturday against the Spirits of Salem College. The Avenging Angels earned an 11-3 win in the first game followed by a 9-2 win in game two, increasing their win streak to six as they secured the sweep.  The Angels are now 13-3 on the season, 2-0 in conference.

GAME 1: Meredith 11, Salem 3

Junior Fallon Wimberly started the scoring for Meredith in the first inning with a two out two RBI single that scored Alyssa Drake and Madison Hamilton. Wimberly followed up that at bat in the third with a two-run blast to center field, the first of her collegiate career.  

Alyssa Drake continued her impressive run at the plate and remains atop the USA South Conference in batting average, currently hitting .566 on the season. Graduate student Susanne Taylor was 3-4 with two runs scored and two RBI thanks to a homerun to center field in the fifth inning. Freshman Jessie Woller added to the Angels offense going 3-4 with two RBI, two runs scored and two triples.  Five Avenging Angel sluggers had multiple hits games including Sarah Manis who 2-5 with two RBI.  

Sarah Gundlach earned the complete game victory in the circle, scattering seven hits and issuing just one walk. She fanned nine Salem hitters and allowed no earned runs to improve her record to 5-0 on the season. 

GAME 2: Meredith 9, Salem 2

Meredith scored seven runs in the final three innings, including four in the sixth, to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 9-2 win.

Sarah Manis led off the game with a triple to right and trotted home when teammate Anna Goldman delivered a double to the centerfield wall. Alyssa Drake stretched the Avenging Angels' lead to 2-0 with a single to centerfield, plating Goldman in the process.

The Salem offense got going in the third inning, tying the game at 2-2 with a double to left field by  Savanah Atkins. Meredith broke the tie in the fifth, scoring two runs on two hits and taking advantage of a Salem miscue. With one out and Goldman on first, Drake delivered a double to left that moved Goldman to third. Fallon Wimberly followed with a bases-clearing double that hit the top of the right field wall, missing her second homerun on the day by an inch. Wimberly gave the Avenging Angels a lead once again, bringing the score to 4-2.

The Avenging Angels cushioned their lead in the sixth, scoring four runs on four hits, establishing an 8-2 lead. Sarah Manis sent her second triple of the game down the right field line to score Madison Hamilton. Two batters later, Goldman connected on a two-run home run to centerfield, giving the Angels a 7-2 advantage. Drake followed with a home run of her own, sending it to left, stretching the lead to six.  Meredith added its final run in the seventh, which came on a sacrifice fly to left by Laura Tobin, scoring Susanne Taylor.

The Avenging Angels finished with 15 hits and were led at the plate by Drake, who finished 4-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a home run. She was one of four Meredith hitters with at least two hits.

Danielle Hunt picked up the win in the circle, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs. Sarah Gundlach entered with the game tied in the fifth inning and earned her first save of the season.  She held the Spirits hittless over three innings, striking out one bringing her total to ten strikeouts on the day.  

The Avenging Angels finally return home on Tuesday, March 29 as they take on NC Wesleyan in another USA South Conference doubleheader.  Game 1 begins at 2:00 pm. 

Photo Credit - Adrian W Lawrence @AWLPHOTOS