FLORENCE, S.C. | Young Harris College outlasted Francis Marion University to sweep a Peach Belt Conference softball doubleheader Monday (March 20) afternoon at the FMU Softball Field.

The Mountain Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one, only to see the Patriots tie the game at 3 before Young Harris recorded a 7-4 win in the opener. Again the Mountain Lions jumped out to an 8-0 lead in game two before the Patriots climbed to within a run and had the tying runs on base in their final at-bat before Young Harris claimed the sweep with a 14-12 decision in the nightcap.

Young Harris improved to 23-7 overall and to 5-5 in the Peach Belt, while the Patriots fell to 22-12 and 4-6. The Mountain Lions, who after playing the past 12 games on the road, will host Shorter University in a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader Wednesday (March 22) at E.D. Rivers Field.

Nikkie Kovalsky earned the win in both games of the doubleheader to improve to 14-4. She pitched the final four innings of game one, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. Kovalsky started game two and came in at the end to help the Mountain Lions hold on for the victory.

YHC took a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the opener as the Mountain Lions only had one hit - a two-run single to left-center field by Jeanie Perrucci - as they took advantage of three FMU errors. The Patriots got a run back in the second before tying the game at 3 when Taylor Johnson hit a two-run homer in the third inning.  Young Harris retook the lead at 4-3 in the fourth on Biz Walters' single to left field. The Mountain Lions added three insurance runs in the fifth, thanks in part to two more Patriot errors. Kelsey Nix drove in the first run on a grounder that was misplayed and Georgia Webb added RBI-single to right-center.

Perrucci and Hannah Harrison had two hits each for the Mountain Lions in game one.

YHC took an 8-0 lead after its first two at-bats. The Mountain Lions got a sacrifice fly from Murphy Davis and a Harrison RBI single back up the middle in the first inning before breaking the game open with a six-run second. Perrucci had an RBI single, while Jill Torres and Grace Botti each drove in two runs apiece on their singles. 

The Patriots again battled back to scored three times in their half of the second and pushing across four more runs in the fourth to pull within a run at 8-7 after Johnson connected on a three-run homer to left.The Mountain Lions added some cushion to the lead as they scored three runs in the fifth to push their advantage to 11-7. Nix led off with second home run - to left-center - of the season before adding two unearned runs on a passed ball and a wild pitch.

FMU got a two-run homer from Morgan Smith in the bottom of the sixth to close the deficit to 11-9, but the Mountain Lions responded with a three-run seventh inning to take a 14-9 lead. Walters had an RBI single to right, while Davis drove in another run on her fielder's choice. Harrison closed out the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

The Patriots rallied in their final at-bat. Cheslea Welty's three-run homer to left pulled Francis Marion within two runs at 14-12. The Patriots had the tying runs in scoring position, but Kovalsky got the final FMU batter to strike out and end the game, which took three hours and 10 minutes to play.

The two teams combined to hit 32 hits in the nightcap, with Young Harris accounting for 13 of them. Perrucci, Walters, Harrison, Botti and Nix each tallied two apiece for the Mountain Lions.