Softball | 3/29/2013 5:14:00 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The eleventh-ranked Piedmont softball team swept an afternoon doubleheader from Methodist on Friday afternoon. The Lions took game one, 4-1, and won game two, 8-1.
 
With the sweep, the Lions moved to 23-3 on the season and 13-1 in the USA South , while the Monarchs fell to 14-16 overall and 5-7 in league play.
 
In the opener, the Monarchs took an early 1-0 lead and held that until Piedmont plated four runs in the sixth inning to rally for the win.
 
Jordan Adams singled with one out in the first inning and stole second before Lindsay Tippett walked with one out. Two batters later, Ally Griffin hit a two-out single up the middle allowing Adams to score standing up from second for a 1-0 lead.
 
MU's Sarah Stapleon allowed just two hits through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth. Abby Atkinson led off with a single for the Lions and took second on an error by Krista Zentner in right field. After Stapleton got Megan McClain to strikeout out swinging, she hit Taylor Morgan with a pitch to put runners on second and third. On a double steal attempt, an MU error allowed Atkinson to come in to score and Morgan took third on the play as Piedmont tie the game at 1-1.
 
Olivia Duncan followed with a walk  and Kristin Hamby then laced a two-run single as the Lions went up 3-1. Hamby capped the scoring when she came in to score on a bases-loaded walk to Laura Carter to make it 4-1.
 
The Piedmont rally made a winner of Brittney Head, who scattered five hits over 7.0 innings. She walked one and struck out five to move to 11-2 on the season. Stapleton finished with four runs allowed on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
 
Adams finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base to lead Methodist. Griffin finished 1-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Hamby was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored for the Lions. Carter was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run driven in, and Duncan was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
 
In the nightcap, Piedmont banged out 11 hits and Jordan Ellingson gave up just one run on five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched.
 
The Lions plated single runs in the first and third innings for an early 2-0 lead. Hambry drove in the first run with an RBI single in the first and Jamie Dennis added an RBI single in the third. In the fourth inning, Piedmont scored three times, including a pair of unearned runs on a Methodist fielding error that made it 5-0.
 
Natalie High blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth for the Monarchs to make it 5-1, but two more runs from the Lions in the sixth and one more in the seventh kept MU from earning a split.
 
Jessica Farmer took the loss for Methodist, allowing five runs (3 ER) on eight this and three walks with one strikeout in 5.0 innings. Brittany Miller pitched the final two innings, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout.
 
Hamby and Megan Kesler each had two hits for the Lions. Hamby drove in a three runs and Duncan was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
 
Stapleton led the Monarchs at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. High finished 1-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
 
The Monarchs play their final home game of the season tomorrow when they host LaGrange in a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 pm.