Dominant pitching sparks No. 19 Gaston College to DH sweep

No. 19 Gaston College's softball may have lost its scoreless innings streak Wednesday afternoon but it got two more exceptional pitching performances to increase its winning streak to 12 with a doubleheader sweep of East Georgia State.

The Rhinos won 6-3 in the opener and 3-0 in the nightcap at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park to improve to 28-3 overall.

Reliever Sophia Crist threw four scoreless innings of relief with eight strikeouts in the opener after the visitors ended Gaston College's scoreless innings streak at 30 2/3 innings.

Then Aidan Ledbetter threw a three-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.

"We got two really good performances in the circle today from Sophia and Aidan," Gaston College coach Michael Steuerwald said. "We're still struggling to get our offense going. But those two really picked us up.
"And Sophia was a big spark on offense too."

Savanna Mullins' two-run home run in the fifth inning of the opener snapped a 3-all tie in Wednesday's opener.

Mullins added a RBI double in the nightcap and finished with three hits and three RBIs on the day.

Other offensive standouts were Crist (2 hits, double, 1 RBI), Mary Hinson (2 hits), Mallie Courson (2 hits) and Charlee Kelly (2 doubles).

Gaston College will look to improve on its 2-0 Region 10 record when it returns to action on Saturday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park.