Huntingdon earns second straight conference sweep

DEMOREST, Ga. – The Huntingdon softball team picked up its second USA South sweep in two days with a 5-3 and 4-2 win over Piedmont on Saturday.

With three conference doubleheaders remaining, the Lady Hawks (16-11, 11-6 USA South) are fourth in the conference standings.

Huntingdon used a three-run home run by freshman Lindsey Selph to take the lead for good in Game 1. In Game 2, the Lady Hawks scored two runs in the second and two runs in the fourth and got out of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth innings.

Selph finished the day 4-for-7 with four RBIs and a run. Sophomore Daisha Henderson was 3-for-8 with a RBI and a run.

In Game 1, Huntingdon took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Selph doubled to score Henderson and Gabby Alcantar scored on an error. Piedmont (11-9, 8-8 USA South) tied the game 2-2 in the third inning.

In the fifth inning, with Alcantar and Heather McGuirk on base, Selph hit her sixth home run of the season.

Senior Katy Messick (9-5) pitched a complete game for the win. Messick held Piedmont to three hits in the final four innings and finished with four strikeouts and two walks, scattered seven hits and allowed three runs. At the plate, Messick also had two hits in Game 1.

In Game 2, Henderson and Kala Rooney each had two hits and Tiffany Taylor scored two runs. Rooney, Henderson and Morgan Goshorn each had one RBI and Jamie Langford and Kaleigh Harris each scored one run.

Selph (4-3) picked up the win in 4 2/3 innings and senior Anna Stephens earned her second save of the season in 2 1/3 innings of relief. With the bases loaded in the fifth, Stephens got a strikeout to end the inning. In the sixth inning, with the bases loaded, Stephens and catcher Jamie Langford made two plays at the plate on a pair of fielder's choices before a pop out to left field ended the inning.

Huntingdon hosts LaGrange (16-10, 11-7 USA South) on Tuesday. Game 1 of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.