CARROLLTON, Ga. -- The Christian Brothers University softball team earned its first Gulf South Conference victory of the season, as it scored seven runs over the first three innings and held on for an 8-5 win, in a doubleheader split, against Shorter, on Monday at University Field. Shorter claimed a 5-0 win in the opener. Due to the threat of weather, the series was played at the University of West Georgia. 

GAME 1: Shorter 5 (13-9, 6-4 GSC), CBU 0 (5-18, 0-10 GSC) 
 
GAME CHANGER:
- Shorter starting pitcher Payton Lippert allowed just three hits, and struck out eight CBU batters, in a complete game effort. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The Hawks finished the game with a 4-3 edge in hits.
- Ashley Dyer (2-for-4) had two of the three CBU hits.  
- Starting pitcher Mackenzie Puckett (1-3) allowed two runs, on two hits, with two strikeouts, in four innings of work. 


KEY PLAYS:
-  Dyer, who led off the game with a single, was left stranded on third, after Lippert recorded a pair of outs to end the threat. 
- Shorter scored the first runs of the game, in the fourth inning, on a two run home run. 
- After adding two more in the fifth, the Lady Hawks finished the scoring, in the sixth, when they capitalized on a CBU error. 


NOTEWORTHY:
- The four hits allowed by CBU pitchers are the fewest allowed by CBU pitchers, in a GSC contest, since giving up the same total to Delta State on March 2, 2017. 
- Dyer has led off the game with a hit in 15 out of 23 contests. She leads the team with 10 multi-hit games. 

Game 2: CBU 8 (6-18, 1-10 GSC) Shorter 5 (13-10 6-5 GSC)
 
GAME CHANGER:
- CBU had just five hits, but also took advantage of nine Shorter walks. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Shorter outhit CBU 9-5. 
- Five different players recorded hits for CBU. 
- Three of the five CBU hits were doubles.
- Maddi Welch led the Lady Bucs with a two-RBI double, and a walk with the bases loaded. 
- Sierra Anderson (2-6) went the distance, allowing five runs on nine hits. 

KEY PLAYS:
- In the top of the first, Kendall Westbrooks drove in a pair of runs with a double to left field. Westbrooks scored on a wild pitch, giving the Lady Bucs a 3-0 lead. 
- CBU made it 5-0, in the second, on the two-RBI double by Welch. 
- Shorter responded, in the bottom of the inning, plating three runs on a triple by Tiffany Holland.
- CBU scored what proved to be the winning run, in the third, on an RBI singe by Abby Ferreira. 
- Welch's walk, with the bases loaded, extended the lead to 7-4.
- In the bottom of the third, Shorter cut the lead to 7-5 with a solo home run. 
- The Lady Bucs finished the scoring, in the sixth inning when Anderson had a fielder's choice RBI. 
- Shorter had the tying run on base, in the bottom of the seventh, but Anderson forced a groundout to end the game. 

NOTEWORTHY:
- Anderson's complete game was her third of the season. That stat currently leads the team. 
- Welch is now tied for the team lead with five multi-RBI games. 
- With 17 conference contests remaining, CBU needs just one more win to match its 2018 GSC wins total. 

UP NEXT:
- The Lady Bucs are scheduled to return home on Saturday, March 16 where they will begin a three-game GSC series against Delta State. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.