Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Rocky Mount, NC - The Piedmont College softball team dropped their opener at the 2014 USA South Championship Tournament, but came back to stave off elimination with a win in their encore performance as the bats came alive for PC.  The Lady Lions dropped a 4-0 decision to the #8 seed in LaGrange College in the 9:00 am morning game to start, but picked up a 9-0 win in five innings over #5 seed Meredith College to stay alive in the postseason.  

In the opener against LaGrange, the Panthers scored their first run on a Piedmont error with two outs in the top of the 2nd as Flick's hard shot to first tripped off the glove of Piedmont's first baseman, Jessica Perschka.  Piedmont played tight in the field throughout the opener accounting for three errors, more than the two hits the Lady Lion offense was able to muster as one of those came in the bottom of the 5th after LaGrange had already assumed control.

In the top of the 7th, LaGrange added three more runs to the lead, two of which came on a home run by Panther pitcher Olivia Wolfe as she helped her own cause with her blast in the waning portion of game one.  The Lady Lions trailed by four after the top of the 7th and would be retired in order in the home half of the inning taking a 4-0 loss in their USA South tourney opener to set the tone for a day filled with upsets as the #3 seed Averett University was eliminated while the 8th seeded Panthers of LaGrange later took down #4 seed Ferrum College.

Taking the loss in game one was USA South Pitcher of the Year Jordin Ellingson who moves to 19-4 after tossing six and a third allowing three runs on six hits as the first score of the game was unearned.  Ellingson struck out seven and walked a pair while Sarah Walker picked up the final two outs being called on after the two-run homer allowed by Ellingson.

With one loss standing between the Green and Gold and elimination in the USA South postseason, Piedmont needed a big performance in their second game of the day which came against none other than Meredith College, the only team to hand Piedmont a conference loss in the regular season.  Going 23-1 in league play in 2014, the Lady Lions got exactly what they were looking for in that encore as the bats came alive at just the right time with PC picking up a 9-0 shutout win in five innings, the only shortened game on day one at the championships.

Now batting as the visitors in game two, the Lady Lions got four runs in the first frame sparked by a 2-RBI double by centerfielder Laura Carter which scored Olivia Duncan and Allison Vaughn.  After a two-out error allowed Abby Smith to reach first and Carter to score, Piedmont would push their lead to 4-0 when Smith would later score on a double by Lauren Head.

Another error by the Avenging Angels in the 4th allowed a Piedmont run to plate just after a Tori Mitchell double started out the 3-run inning.  Up 7-0 after four complete, PC would get two more runs in the top of the 5th as a Whitney Wolfe stolen base and an RBI double by Vaughn pushed the margin to 9-0, more than enough for starter Brittney Head to work with.  

Head sat down the Avenging Angels in order in the bottom of the 5th as she pitched a near perfect game with one hit given up and no walks issued striking out a half dozen along the way.  Head's only hit given up came on a two-out double in the Meredith 4th as she moves to 16-2 on the season after an incredible performance in an elimination game for PC.

Piedmont moves to 36-6 with the split on the day, and is now in back-to-the-wall mode as their next loss in the USA South tourney will eliminate them from the league's postseason event.  The Lady Lions will now move on to face the tourney's #6 seed, Greensboro College in another elimination game tomorrow morning at 10:00 am.  Plans are in place for the Mane Event Broadcasting Network to provide a live feed for the 10:00 am game.  

Greensboro comes into the game after going 1-1 themselves on day one upsetting the #3 seed Averett University 4-2 in the opener on Friday before falling to 2nd seed Huntingdon College by a 7-1 score.  Piedmont and Greensboro played just this past Sunday in a doubleheader at Walker Athletic Complex with the Lady Lions sweeping the pair by a combined 14-3 score.