Salisbury starts season with four-game sweep at VWC tournament
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Salisbury University softball team was one of the few teams to come out of the 27-team Virginia Wesleyan College tournament without a loss this past weekend. The Sea Gulls went a perfect 4-0 during the two-day tournament (Friday-Saturday) in Virginia Beach, Va.

Salisbury took down Rutgers-Newark with an 9-0 shutout on Saturday afternoon and squeaked out a 3-2 win over Polytechnic from Brooklyn, N.Y. The day before the Sea Gulls pitched another shutout, this time to Emory and Henry, 7-0, and won the first game of the year, a 4-2 decision against Averett.

Rutgers-Camden, the defending NCAA Division III national champion, lost its first two games of the year at the same tournament.

The Sea Gull bats came alive during the two-day tournament as Kelly Waskewicz slammed two homeruns on Saturday. Her first collegiate homer came against Rutgers-Newark. Waskewicz’s two-run shot made the game 5-0 in the fifth inning. She gave SU the lead in the Polytechnic game with a solo shot in the third. Waskewicz would score the eventual game-winning run in the fifth inning. Polytechnic plated an additional run in the sixth but SU pitcher Stacy Davis (2-0) hung on to win the 3-2 decision.

Junior pitcher Kirsten Wells (2-0) pitched five scoreless innings against Rutgers-Newark where she only allowed two hits. Wells was relieved by fellow junior Kortni Pedlow who closed the game out. Sophomore Stacey Malarkey blasted a solo homer in the fourth inning to make the game 2-0. Junior outfielder Ashley Stern went 3-for-3 and fell a triple short of the cycle. Stern clubbed a solo homerun to lead off the fifth. Stern had two RBI in the game. Freshman Kim Henderson came up with a clutch two-run single late in the game to put the game out of reach.

On Friday, Wells struck out eight and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Averett broke up that bid with two runs. Waskewicz went 3-for-3 from the plate with two doubles. Freshman Jen Cahall bombed a three-run homerun in the fourth inning to give SU a 4-0 lead.

Davis took to the mound in the second game and struck out five Emory and Henry batters and only allowed two hits in the 7-0 shutout. Waskewicz was solid from the dish again as she went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Meaghan Murphy hit a two-run single in the fifth and Ali Ritter had a two-run triple in the win.

Salisbury stays in Virginia Beach, Va., for another day as the Sea Gulls face Lynchburg College for a Sunday doubleheader.