FLORENCE — Sophomore outfielder Olivia Zielinski connected for a three-run homer to back the shutout pitching of senior right-hander Kayla Ellingsen as Francis Marion University defeated Limestone College 8-0 in six innings in the first game of Tuesday’s nonconference doubleheader. The Saints quieted the Patriot bats in game two and captured a 3-2 win and a split of the twinbill.
Francis Marion (9-3) will play a non-onference doubleheader at Mount Olive College at 1 p.m. today before opening Peach Belt Conference play by hosting USC Aiken at 1 p.m. Saturday.
FMU took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener when senior center fielder Destinea Schneider blooped a run-scoring single to left. The advantage doubled in the fourth fame when Zielinski walked, stole second, and came around to score on an RBI single through the right side by Lindsey Brown.
Zielinski then hammered her three-run shot over the left center field fence in a four-run fifth inning. The Patriots scored twice in the sixth to end the game by the mercy rule with Zielinski driving in the final run with a bases-loaded walk.
Schneider finished the game 2-for-2, while junior catcher Olivia Ferguson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and one driven in. Ellingsen (5-1) scattered three hits, struck out six, and walked only two.
Junior righty Shelby Webb (0-2) was the losing pitcher. Saints center fielder and leadoff batter Jenna Guse was 2-for-3 in game one.
Junior right-hander Leah Quant (1-1) limited FMU to only five hits in the second contest. Limestone scored twice in the first inning as the first two Saint batters of the game walked and eventually came around to score. Guse drove in a third run with an RBI triple down the left field line in the top of the second.
Francis Marion scored once in the fourth and once in the fifth with Schneider playing a role both times. She scored from second on a two-out error in the fourth and walked with the bases-loaded in the fifth.
FMU left the bases loaded in the fifth, went down in order in the sixth, and scratched out only a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh in an effort to push across the tying run.
Schneider was 2-for-2 in the second contest. Sophomore righty Taylor Luff (0-1) pitched game two for the Patriots, allowing seven hits, fanning six, and walking two.
Jordan Smith and Alex Brown were both 2-for-3 to lead Limestone (1-3) in the second game.
GOLF
Patriots take ninth;
Sporck finishes fifth
HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Francis Marion sophomore Fredrik Sporck’s final-round 75 to close out the seventh-annual Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate Golf Tournament was good enough to land him in a tie for a fifth-place finish.
The 54-hole event was played on the par 72, 6,913-yard Wexford Plantation course.
Sporck’s overall tournament score of 222 led all Patriot golfers, who finished ninth overall in the team standings at 313-308-298 — 919. FMU climbed three spots from where the host team had started the day.
Georgia State University (892) shot a final-round 301 score to maintain its day-one lead, and hold off a hard-charging Furman University (898) squad to win the event. Rounding out the top five were Davidson College (903), the University of Louisville (904), and Presbyterian College (909).
GSU’s Damon Stephenson, who headed the individual standings after day one, closed out his three-stroke win over teammate Tyler Gruca (73-71-75 — 219) by shooting a 1-over 73 on Tuesday and finishing at even-par 216 for the tournament.
Other FMU finishes included junior Travis Gantt (74-77-76 — 228) who tied for the 18th spot, junior Taylor Banks (77-81-73 — 231) finishing tied for 35th, junior Sebastian Backlund (81-78-75 — 234) tied for 49th, freshman Lukas Crisp (77-81-77 — 235) tied for 52nd, junior Kenneth Svanum (82-80-75 — 237) tied for 62nd, freshman Austin Frick (86-77-80 — 243) tied for 81st, and freshman John Michael Schaffer (85-82-80 — 247) tied for 85th.
Gantt, Frick, and Schaffer all played as individuals, not as part of the five-player FMU squad.
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