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LaGrange, GA - After dropping the first game of their doubleheader with LaGrange College 6-3, the Wesleyan College softball team bounced back to beat the previously undefeated Panthers by a score of 7-4 on Saturday afternoon, earning their first win of the 2015 season.
Despite a slow start in Game 1, Wesleyan found their rhythm midway through the game and the Wolves were able to finish with eight hits. LaGrange mounted a six run lead before the Wolves got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a Jessica Fleming single that scored Sam McMahon and Colleen DeGraff. The Wolves comeback attempt came a little too late as they were only able to score one more run in the seventh inning.
Fleming led the Wesleyan offense, going 2-for-3 from the plate with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Jema Brave and Mellissa Webb also went 2-for-4, while McMahon was 1-for-1 while drawing two walks.
Wesleyan's offense came alive in Game 2 as the Wolves pounded out 12 hits, led freshman Victoria Clower's 3-for-4 performance from the plate. Jessica Fleming (2-for-4), Tiffani Linville (2-for-5), and Mellissa Webb (2-for-4) each had multiple hits for the Wolves.
Wesleyan scored five first inning runs and tacked on two more in the fourth before LaGrange responded with two runs each in the six and seventh innings. Mellissa Webb (1-2) struck out three Panthers on her way to her first complete game victory this year.
""It's good to get that first win under our belt, and I'm pleased with how we played overall today,"" remarked Wesleyan head coach Dickey Hightower. ""We really didn't play too badly in the first game, but we didn't start hitting the ball until about the fourth inning and just gave LaGrange too much of a lead that we couldn't dig out from. I was pleased with how we battled back, and we had our chances toward the end of that game with bases loaded in the seventh inning.""
""We were able to jump on them early in Game 2 by scoring five runs in the first inning, which was nice. We hit the ball really well and played well defensively too. Mellissa [Webb] kept LaGrange off balance for the first five innings and pitched a nice game. Jessica Fleming played outstanding all day both offensively and defensively, and really everybody played well and contributed in some way. I'm very happy with how we played and hope we can continue playing like this in Florida next week.""
Wesleyan travels to Florida for the Clermont Spring Break Tournament that runs Sunday to Tuesday. The Wolves will play six games over three days beginning with Adrian College at 1:00pm tomorrow afternoon.
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