No. 10 Gaston College sweeps another doubleheader

Games 15 and 16: Feb. 18 vs. Walters State

Gaston College's No. 10-ranked softball team continued to find ways to win with two close victories over perennial power Walters State Community College of Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park.

The Rhinos improved to 14-1 with 5-2 win in the opener and an 8-7 come-from-behind win in the nightcap.

"You always like to win no matter what it looks like," Gaston College coach Michael Steuerwald said. "I think we still have a lot of room to grow and improve. So there's a lot of potential development still and if we can get to where we need to be, I think we can be really good.
"We know there's a lot that we need to get better at. But when you say that when you're 15-1, that's sounds pretty good. We keep talking about finding ways to be better with the details. Hopefully, we can continue to grow and improve on that stuff."

Adah Bruining (3 hits, double, home run, 1 RBI), McKenna Jones (3 hits, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs), Mary Hinson (2 hits, 1 RBI), Savanna Mullins (2 hits, double, 1 RBI) and Charlee Kelly (double, 5 RBIs) led the Gaston College offense with Mullins' one-out pinch-hit RBI double giving the Rhinos the win in the nightcap.

On the mound, Aidan Ledbetter started and went 6 1/3 innings for a win in the opener with Crist getting the final two outs for a save and pitching three scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the victory in the nightcap.

Crist entered the nightcap with the Rhinos trailing the only team they have lost to this season.

Gaston College returns to action this weekend in Georgia with a noon doubleheader at Gordon State on Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Georgia Highlands on Saturday.