NEED TO KNOW:
Game 1 Score: Piedmont 7, Mt. St. Joseph 10
Game 2 Score: Piedmont 7, Cal Lutheran 2
Records: Piedmont, 1-1; Mt. St. Joseph, 1-1; Cal Lutheran, 1-1

DEMOREST, Ga. - The Piedmont University softball team split a pair of home games to open up the 2024 season facing two teams more than a combined 2,750 miles from the Demorest-based campus.  Shortly before the Lady Lions defeated Cal Lutheran University 7-2, Piedmont dropped a 10-7 decision to Mt. St. Joseph's despite loading the bases and bringing the winning run to the plate vs. the visiting Lions from up north.  

GAME 1 - Piedmont 7, Mt. St. Joseph 10

Piedmont dropped its season opener to another set of Lions with Mt. St. Joseph making the trek down south from Cincinnati to hand the home team a 10-7 defeat.  Piedmont scored first, taking the lead in the opening inning with a Jordyn Green single, but Mt. St. Joseph took the lead right back with a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd. 

Piedmont answered the call with a 4-run stretch over two innings including a Megan Steinmeyer single that scored two in the 5th to give PU a 5-2 lead.  Steinmeyer's 2-RBI base hit was part of an incredible start to her '24 campaign, that saw her go 5-for-8 at the plate with four runs batted in on the day. 

It was a 6th inning though to forget for the home team as Mt. St. Joe's scored eight runs on seven hits and four Lady Lion errors in the frame.  While it looked like too much for Piedmont to overcome, the Cardiac Cats would make it difficult on MSJ as PU scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th before loading the bases with two outs and down just three.

However, a hard hit ball off the bat of Heartly Nepveux lined its way right into the glove of waiting Mt. St. Joe's shortstop Macy Cornelius for out number three in the bottom of the 7th thwarting Piedmont's late rally and a securing the 10-7 victory for MSJ.  

GAME 2 - Piedmont 7, Cal Lutheran 2

In Piedmont's second game of the day, it was time for the sensational sophomore pitcher Riley Ford to shut down a potent Cal Lu offense that posted 11 runs on 14 hits earlier in the day to knock off Birmingham-Southern College by eight.  

Ford was up to the task and also got lots of early help from the home team bats, with Piedmont posting five runs over the first two innings.  Kara Taylor uncorked a two-run homer over the monster wall to give PU an early lead.  Two RBI singles and a ground out pushed three more over the plate in the second as the visiting Regals found themselves trailing Coach Terry Martin's squad 5-0 heading into the third. 

CLU would be held scoreless the next few frames, while Piedmont continued to pour it on, sparked by Heartly Nepveux's RBI double in the 4th, followed by Kaitlin Isley plating Nepveux later in the same inning.  Now trailing by seven, CLU would be forced to fight to extend the contest heading into the top of the 5th after Nepveux and Isley extended the margin.  

Though the visitors would get a home run from Jessica Waters in the 5th to make it a contest, Piedmont's lead was no longer in doubt the rest of the night behind sure-handed defense and stellar pitching.  

Cal Lutheran came into the season opener having won six of their last seven contests to wrap up the '23 season and continued its momentum from last spring knocking off Birmingham-Southern College 11-3 in the Regals' first game on Saturday.  CLU's momentum would come to a screeching halt at the Demorest station with Ford blanking the Regals for the first four innings of the evening contest before wrapping up her day with a 7-inning, 8-strikeout performance.  

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
-- Ford was cool as a cucumber in the circle surrendering only a pair of runs on eight hits while striking out eight compared to two walks on the evening. 
-- At the plate, it was Megan Steinmeyer who had a day to remember going 5-for-8 with four RBI's including three in the first game alone.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
-- In the 5th inning of game two for Piedmont, pitcher Riley Ford struck out the first two batters before finding herself in trouble with a two-out single giving the Regals some life.  In the next at-bat, CLU's Jessica Waters homered to cut the Piedmont lead to five, but Ford retired the next batter on strikes to end the threat before any real danger emerged.
-- Down 5 runs going into the bottom of the 7th vs. Mt. St. Joe's, Piedmont scratched 2 runs across before loading the bases vs. the visitors late only to see Heartly Nepveux's heartbreaking hard hit two-out ball find the glove of MSJ shortstop Macy Cornelius to end the rally.  Had PU pulled off the rally, it would have been softball's largest comeback since the Lions overcame a 4-run deficit to defeat NC Wesleyan in the 2021 USA South Championship game.  

UP NEXT:
--Piedmont will take on the same opponents on Sunday beginning with Mt. St. Joseph at noon. 

HOW TO FOLLOW:
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