FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-29-04

College Softball: No. 14 AASU 2-7, UNC Pembroke 0-1

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The No. 14-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State softball team opened the Peach Belt Conference season with a 2-0, 7-1 sweep of UNC Pembroke on Sunday afternoon at the Pirate Softball Complex.

AASU hurler Katya Eronina (5-0) spun a one-hit shutout in game number one, striking out 14, as the Pirates blanked the Braves, 2-0. Eronina’s only mistake was a two-out hit to the Braves’ Brookes Musser in the second inning, while the Pirates went yard for their two runs. Senior All-America designated player Stacey Richardson clubbed her 30th career home run in the fourth inning, a solo shot, then freshman Chelce Culberson delivered her own solo shot in the sixth inning. Nicole McCorkle (2-3) took the loss for the Braves, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out six in six innings pitched.

In the Pirates’ second game, AASU (9-1, 2-0 PBC) scored two runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Richardson and an RBI single by Kissy Stepanova, then broke open the game with a four-run third inning highlighted by an RBI double by Culberson and an RBI single by Valeria Silvestrini. Culberson added another RBI double in the sixth inning and led the Pirates offensively in the game with three hits. The offensive outburst made a winner out of Katy Perkins (4-0), who went the distance, scattering nine hits and giving up just one run, while striking out six. Amanda Busch (2-2) took the loss for the Braves (5-8, 0-2 PBC), giving up eight hits and six runs – three earned – in four innings pitched.

AASU returns to action on Wednesday, March 3, as the Lady Pirates visit No. 17 GC&SU for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader with the Bobcats. The games will be a rematch of the 2003 NCAA South Atlantic Regional final, in which the Bobcats outlasted the Pirates, 1-0, in 13 innings to advance to the College World Series.

- Pirates -