VIRGINIA BEACH -- A home run and double from Tori Higginbotham, two doubles from Lindsay Izana, and a double each from Jaclyn Quinn and Heather Bishop highlighted a productive afternoon of hitting for the Virginia Wesleyan College softball Marlins in a non-conference sweep of North Carolina Wesleyan College on Marlins Field.

Quinn (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) and Bishop (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes) connected for the two-base hits in the first game, both in the sixth inning when Virginia Wesleyan (19-9) scored four times to wipe out a 2-1 deficit en route to a 5-3 win.  Higginbotham (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) belted her homer to lead off the first inning for the Marlins.

NCWC (16-18) used a Carla Matthews (Newsoms, Va./Southampton) home run to get one of the runs back in the top of the seventh, but VWC's defense came up with the outs to end the game.

Sophomore MacKenzie Creech (Hillsborough, N.C./Orange) pitched 6.2 innings for VWC, striking out five batters, walking one and scattering eight hits.  Rookie Kristina Karagiorgis (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods) pitched to the final two batters, striking out one and walking one.  Leanna Fann (Salemsburg, N.C./Midway) took the loss for the Bishops.

Higginbotham hit 3-for3 for the Marlins and Quinn finished with two hits in the opener.  Maria Seay (Mineral, Va./Louisa County) was 3-for-3 for NCWC.

Karagiorgis came back in game two to take over the pitchers' circle and help lead the Marlins to a 4-0 win. She struck out six batters, walked three and allowed only three hits.

VWC took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Quinn singled to right to score Higginbotham, who singled earlier in the inning.

The Marlins tacked on two more runs in the fourth when Higginbotham smashed a two-run double to left, scoring Megan Zahnd (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) and Brenae Pettit (Onancock, Va./Nandua).

Izana (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) led VWC hitting in the game with her two doubles.  She finished the game 3-for-3. 

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Saturday, April 14, hosting Randolph College in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference twinbill starting at 1 p.m.  The Marlins also close out the home season with Senior Day on Sunday, April 15, hosting Lynchburg College in another ODAC doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.

--AMDG--