Box Score

Salem, Va. – For a second straight year the Millersville softball team will begin Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division play with an above .500 record. The Marauders finished up a 4-1 West Virginia Wesleyan Tournament with a 3-0 win over Davis & Elkins College at the Moyer Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Scoreless through two innings, Millersville (11-8) broke through in the third. Sarah Signore doubled in Ally Homa and the Marauders steadily started to wear the Senators (9-17) down. Homa would figure in the scoring in the fourth as well knocking in two runs of her own with a two-bagger.

The three runs were more than enough for freshman Alicia Hughes. The southpaw allowed three hits over the course of the afternoon to improve to 3-3 on the season. She struck out five Davis & Elkins batters in the process.

Kelly Fitzgerald delivered the backbreaking blow in the top of the fifth when she led off the inning with her team-leading third home run of the season.

The Black and Gold improved to 8-2 in Salem, Va., over the past two seasons. In five games this weekend, the Marauders outscored their opponents 23-8. Fitzgerald continued her tear through the Virginia complex. She finished the three-day tournament with a pair of three-hit games, two homers, and eight RBIs. All of this after going 10-for-17 with nine RBIs in five games here last season.

Hughes continued to deal late, throwing the most effective game of her young career. After starting off the season with a complete-game shutout of American International, the rookie ran into a stretch of rough games, but on Sunday she did a nice job of keeping the Davis & Elkins batters off balance. Hughes went six innings, while Brittany Peterson pitched a flawless seventh for MU.

Millersville, which was picked to finish fifth in the five-team PSAC East, opens conference play Tuesday against nationally-ranked Kutztown. The Marauders will be looking to improve on last season's 2-14 mark against teams in their own division. Tuesday's doubleheader at the Millersville University Softball Field begins at 2:30 p.m.