SALISBURY, Md. -- A challenging week of softball did not start off the way the No. 7 ranked Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins hoped.

The Marlins played the first of three doubleheaders in five days on the road against the No. 2 ranked Salisbury University Sea Gulls and dropped both games to the host team.  Salisbury junior pitch Rachel Johnson (Preston, Md./Colonel Richardson), ranked No. 5 nationally in strikeouts, tossed a no-hitter to lead SU to an 8-0 victory in six innings in the opener.  She pitched in relief in the second game and helped the Gulls to pull out a 1-0 win.

Johnson pitched the distance in the first game and struck out 11 batters and entered the second game in the fifth inning and fanned five more. She improved her pitching record to 13-0 and helped Salisbury improve to 21-1.

Sophomore Mary Shipp (Virginia Beach/First Colonial) pitched in the first game for the Marlins and junior Kristina Karagiorgis (Ashburn/Briar Woods)worked the second game. Shipp struck out one batter, walked three, and gave up 14 hits and eight runs.  Karagiorgis fanned out six, walked two, and scattered seven hits.

Virginia Wesleyan (20-4) threatened throughout the second game, but could not find the big hit to send in the runs.  Two Marlins were left stranded on the bases in the first, fifth, and sixth innings.

Salisbury, which was held in check by the VWC defense and Karagiorgis' pitching, scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Paige Knussman (Easton, Md./Easton) drilled a single up the middle. 

The Marlins connected for five hits in the second game, led by sophomore Taylor Galvin (Virginia Beach/Kempsville) with two, including a double.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, April 6, hosting Randolph College's WildCats at 12 p.m. in Old Dominion Athletic Conference competition. It is also the annual Strike Out Cancer Day. The 'Cats are currently 17-8.  The Marlins also play on Sunday, April 7, at 12 p.m., hosting the Lynchburg College Hornets, who have received votes to the national poll.  The Hornets are currently 15-7.

--AMDG--