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Salem, VA - The Piedmont College softball team saw one of the country's best squads earlier today at the Salem Regional and fell at the hands of top seeded Salisbury University 3-0.  After rain delayed the game set originally for an afternoon start yesterday, the Lady Lions kept it close throughout but could not get runs on the board against the Seagulls as they were shut out for the first time since a March 8th 1-0 loss to the ninth ranked team in Division III, East Texas Baptist University.

Piedmont struggled to get their offense clicking at the same time through the early going despite seeing senior Megan McClain lead off the game with a double down the left field line.  However, facing one of the nation's top five pitchers, 16 of the next 18 Piedmont batters failed to reach base safely as Seagull Rachel Johnson was dealing early and often.

In the bottom of the first, Salisbury got all the runs they would need when a 1-out double brought a pair of runners home to give the Seagulls a 2-0 lead.  Piedmont pitcher Brittney Head would settle after a rocky first retiring nine of the next 12 she faced as the game developed into one where runs would be hard to come by.

With the Salisbury pitcher keeping the Lady Lions at bay tallying 12 strikeouts through five innings of work, the Seagulls looked to add to their margin in the bottom of the 5th after a leadoff base hit down the right field line.

A sacrifice bunt moved the Salisbury runner across to 2nd before a lined shot to centerfield scored the runner and added a score to the Seagulls lead which stood at 3-0 through five complete.

As opportunities dwindled for PC, McClain would pick up her second base hit of the day to get on for the Lady Lions.  The senior shortstop would be joined by her classmate and next batter, Taylor Morgan, who was hit by a pitch to give Piedmont a pair of base runners with no outs.

With the freshman star Olivia Duncan up to bat, the Lady Lions looked to make good on another chance with runners on.  Duncan looked to have done so when she put the barrel of the bat on a Salisbury offering, but the Seagulls second baseman tracked the hit into shallow center making a great outstretched play to slow the rally.

A Piedmont miscue on bunt gave Salisbury the 2nd out of the inning before the Seagulls induced a fly ball to right for the final out of the top of the 6th.  The Lady Lions had their chances to get on the board leaving runners stranded, but could not get them across home to break the 0's on the board.

Salisbury would try to break the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth loading the bases with just one out holding a three run lead.  With freshman Jordin Ellingson now on the mound for Piedmont, the Lady Lions were able to get out of a jam as Ellingson struck out one and got the final batter to pop up to her as she gloved the third out of the bottom of the 6th.

A leadoff hit in the top of the 7th gave Piedmont a chance to start another late rally, but the next three hitters were put out in order as the Lady Lions could not overcome an early deficit to the nation's #1 team.

Two seniors hit well on the day to lead PC against the feared Seagulls as both Megan McClain and Megan Kesler were two for three in their appearances.  However, those two accounted for all four of Piedmont's base knocks on the day as Salisbury's Rachel Johnson, who is 2nd in the nation in strikeouts per seven, was dominant in the circle striking out 14.

With the 3-0 loss, Piedmont falls to 33-9 overall and picks up their first defeat in NCAA postseason play.  The Lady Lions now await the winner of the 12:00 pm game in Salem between 14th ranked Christopher Newport University and #4 Emory University.  PC's next game is slated for a 2:00 pm first pitch today, May 12.