Jaramillo leads FMU Softball to split at Flagler

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Sophomore second baseman Ashley Jaramillo went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer to help Francis Marion University to an 8-7 game-two win and a split of its Sunday afternoon (March 28) Peach Belt Conference softball doubleheader at Flagler College.  The Saints rolled to an 8-1 win in the opener.

Francis Marion (27-10, 12-6) will play a non-conference twinbill at Pfeiffer University on Thursday at 1 p.m.  Flagler is now 22-18 overall and 6-6 in the Peach Belt.

In the first game, Flagler scored all the runs it would need in the first inning – a pair of two-out runs that crossed home plate on a Patriot error.  The Saints added another in the third and then put up three runs in the fourth, two coming off Brittney Hatem’s base hit, to build a 6-0 advantage.  Tori Jolley hit a two-run double in the sixth.

Senior southpaw Michaela Wolf (15-5) went the distance for FMU and surrendered 10 hits, six earned runs and struck out seven. Flagler’s Kelly Riddick (14-9) tossed six innings and allowed just four hits, one run and struck out six.

Senior third baseman Kat Beauvais, who was 2-for-3, doubled home Olivia Ferguson in the fifth inning for the Patriots’ lone run.

In the second game, Flagler took an early 2-1 lead, but Francis Marion tallied five runs in the fourth inning to take control.  Jaramillo supplied the big hit in the fourth with a three-run home run which gave the Patriots a 6-2 lead.  Beauvais and Chelle Phillips also had run-scoring hits in the frame.

The Saints added two in the bottom of the fourth, but the Patriots added two more in the top of the seventh to take an 8-4 lead.  Francis Marion would need all of those runs as Jolley hit a two-run single and Kaycee Lisa followed with a run-scoring single to cut the FMU lead to 8-7, all with two outs. But the Saints couldn’t get any closer.

FMU junior righty Cea Knox (12-4) pitched a complete game and allowed eight hits and six earned runs, while striking out four.  Senior left fielder Jessica Birchmeier was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Wolf was 2-for-4 with one run driven in.

Kristen Chapman (6-5) was tagged with the loss after tossing four innings and surrendering nine hits and five earned runs.