Gaston College softball records doubleheader sweep with pair of shutout victories

Shutout pitching. Solid defense. Small ball. Extra base hits.

Gaston College had every element of the game working in unison Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of Spartanburg Methodist at Caromont Health Park.

The Rhinos won both games by shutout in five innings and by identical 8-0 scores.

It was a great way to open the second round of play in Region 10-Division I as Gaston College improved to 9-1 in the conference, 35-5 overall. Spartanburg Methodist fell to 3-7 in Region 10, 5-19 overall.

The pair of home wins were important as the Rhinos face a grueling stretch of 18 games in 18 days starting Friday at Louisburg College. They have only one home appearance at Caromont remaining, a doubleheader this Sunday for Sophomore Day against USC-Spartanburg.

Gaston College's starting pitchers, Abigail Gawlinski in game one, and Abigail Brewton in the nightcap, allowed only four hits between them over 10 innings.

Gawlinski fashioned a three-hitter in the opener and did not walk a batter. In game two, Brewton gave up a solo hit and walked one.

"It was good to see those two get locked back in a little bit," Rhinos coach Michael Steuerwald said. "They haven't been bad, but not quite themselves the last couple weeks. We didn't have a ton of strikeouts today, but they pitched and we played defense behind them. I think in eight or nine of the 10 innings, we got the leadoff hitter out, which was huge for us."

At the plate, the Rhinos had more than enough firepower, getting a three-run home run from Alayna Patrick in the opener along with a 3-for-3 outing from Dakota Marshall, who returned to the lineup after missing a week of action with a hand injury.

At the same time, Gaston College moved runners along on the bases with strategic bunting. Gracie Brown was credited with two sacrifice bunts in the opener, and Patrick advanced a runner with a sacrifice.

"We have that ability to lay some small game down sometimes, and that was good to see" Steuerwald said. "We were able to get runners over and even bunt for hits."

Marshall showed no ill effect from her layoff at the plate, collecting RBI singles in the second and fifth innings in the opener.

"She just got the green light today, and you never know if there is going to be a little rust and a little fearfulness, but she did a great job of overcoming any butterflies she may have had," Steuerwald said of his freshman shortstop. "She did a great job of laying down bunts and getting some hits."

In the second game, Grace Kealy delivered the key hit with a bases-clearing 3-RBI triple to right field in the fourth inning to break the game open. Kealy finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs in the game, and Patrick was 2-for-2 with an RBI.

In game one, Gabrielle Porterfield (2-3), Patrick (2-2, 3 RBIs) and Kendall Bradshaw (2-2, double) had multiple hits.