Gaston College offense sparks Wednesday's doubleheader sweep

Gaston College's softball program extended its winning streak to six and improved its record to 26-4 with an impressive doubleheader sweep of visiting Surry Communty College by 16-6 and 15-0 scores on Wednesday at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park.

The Rhinos, who received votes in the National Junior College Athletic Association poll for the third time in four weeks on Monday, won both games by the 8-run mercy rule after five innings.

"It was a big offensive day for us and we haven't hit that well the last few weeks so it was good for us to get going and see people up and down the lineup barrel up some balls," said Gaston College coach Mike Steuerwald, whose team had 30 hits in the doubleheader as it improved to 26-4 overall.

In the opener, Gaston College slugged four home runs and erupted for runs in all four innings. Gabrielle Porterfield, Grace Kealy, Kendall Bradshaw, Emma Ghorley, Skye Harrington and Alayna Patrick had two hits apiece with Bradshaw, Patrick, Kealy and Harrington slugging the home runs.

In the nightcap, Porterfield and Patrick had three hits each and Dakota Marshall and Kealy had two hits apiece, with Marshall slugging a home run.

On the day, Harrington had four RBIs and Marshall and Kealy had three RBIs each.

Starters Abigail Gawlinski (4 innings, 1 hit, 4 strikeout) improved to 11-3 in the opener with Abigail Brewton throwing a 2-hitter with nine strikeouts in the nightcap to improve to 13-1.

"When you get to the halfway part of the season, you have to be mature and get in the work you need to get and stay locked in," Steuerwald said. "We're going to have a challenge with Walters State coming in. They're one of the top 10 teams in the country and they're currently No. 6 in the nation with one of the best pitchers in the country."

The Senators will bring a 22-2 record to Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday.