FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Fairmont State (14-12, 4-2 in Mountain East Conference play) softball team utilized strong offensive starts to sweep the conference doubleheader versus Alderson Broaddus (5-17, 2-4) on Saturday (March 25) at Duvall-Rosier Field in Fairmont, W.Va.
 
Game One – Fairmont State 9, Alderson Broaddus 3
The Falcons' offense roared back in the bottom of the first inning with six runs after AB hit a solo home run in the top half of the inning. With one out, Hannah Workman singled up the middle for Fairmont State's first hit. Emily Riggs made it consecutive hits with a knock to right center. Workman and Riggs advanced an additional base thanks to an AB wild pitch. Myaih Cloud plated Workman on an RBI single to tie the game at one. Peyton Wetherholt clubbed a three-run dinger to break open a 4-1 lead for the Fighting Falcons. After a Courtney Moyer walk, Abbie Keilholz lined a double off the left field fence and Moyer hustled to score all the way from first base. Katy Darnell continued the offensive production with a triple to the right-center field gap that plated Keilholz. Eight consecutive Falcons reached base safely in the huge six-run inning.
 
Workman and Riggs started the second inning with a walk apiece. Cloud drove in Workman on a sacrifice fly and Riggs scored on a sac popup to extend the Falcons' lead to eight in the second frame. Emma Gates kept the Battlers' bats in check and threw three scoreless innings after surrendering one run in the first. AB scratched across two runs in the sixth. Moyer scored Workman in the bottom of the sixth to put Fairmont State ahead, 9-3. Gates recorded the last three outs in the seventh to finish her fourth complete game of the season.
 
Four Falcons finished with multi-hit games. Keilholz collected three hits and one double. Workman, Riggs and Cloud each had two hits with Cloud driving in two. Wetherholt drove in four runners and hit her third long ball of the year. Gates struck out four batters and allowed just two earned runs on six hits. She improved to 6-3 in her freshman season.
 
Game Two – Fairmont State 9, Alderson Broaddus 7
The Falcons scored five runs in the bottom of the first. Alexa Andrews singled down the right field line and Workman beat the throw at first on a bunt attempt. After Andrews and Workman both swiped bags, Riggs connected on a two-strike pitch and scored two on a base hit. Wetherholt laced a double down the left field line and Riggs scored all the way from first for Fairmont State's third run. Keilholz continued her huge day at the plate with an RBI single to right and Brianna McKenzie drove in Moyer on a sacrifice fly to complete a five-run first inning for the Falcons.
 
AB trimmed the Falcons' lead to two runs in the third inning with three runs. Fairmont State stretched the lead back to four in the bottom of the third. Wetherholt crushed a triple to center field and Moyer followed with an RBI double. Moyer later scored on a wild pitch from second base and Fairmont State led 7-3 after three.
 
The Battlers posted one run in both the fourth and sixth innings. Fairmont State added a pair of clutch insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. McKenzie started the inning with a hit to center and stole second with Gia Woods at the dish. Woods singled and set up runners at the corners with no outs. Isabella Yelle poked a two-RBI hit to extend the Falcons' lead to four runs. AB rallied for two runs in the final half-inning. Caitlyn Kassay locked down the final three outs and earned the save to secure the Falcons' sweep over AB.
 
Wetherholt and Moyer both finished with a pair of hits. Nine Fairmont State hitters racked up base hits in game two. Jordan Popowski picked up her first win of the season after pitching 2.1 innings in relief. Kassay struck out two batters in her one inning of work and collected her first save. Shelby Reed started the game and punched out four batters in 3.2 innings.
 
Up Next
Fairmont State softball is slated to complete its homestand tomorrow (March 26) with a doubleheader versus Notre Dame (Ohio) starting at 1 p.m. from Duvall-Rosier Field in Fairmont.