The William Peace University softball team finished the Grand Slam Triangle Classic with a huge win against Salisbury University, a nationally ranked team Sunday.
Throughout the weekend, Feb. 24 to 26, the Pacers won four of the six games they played, improving their record for the season to 7-7. The Pacers start conference play on Sunday, March 5 against Averett University.
The sixth and final game of the weekend tournament, against Salisbury, was the team’s toughest.
Right away, WPU saw how fast of a pitch Salisbury University had and how spectacular their hitting was. The ladies did not freeze over what they saw; they went out and played the game they knew how to play.
“I don’t know if it was because it was the last game or what but the atmosphere was relaxed and confident throughout the whole game,” said junior Katelyn McLamb.
Heather McLean went to bat for the second time in the game, and off of the first pitch, she swung and hit a homerun, her second in the tournament. She hit a walkoff home run on Saturday, Feb. 25 against Washington College, making the score 5-4.
McLean is on her way to setting a personal record on the number of home runs hit in a single season, as she is currently standing with four home runs.
“Before my walkoff home run, I was just having that feel good feeling, and the air was really calm and cool,” said McLean. “I told myself before I hit to sit and smash it and that’s what happened.”
The Pacers fought back from being down 2-1 to win the game against Salisbury University 3-2. Overall the WPU softball team won four out of their six games.
The softball team was able to see a few of their conference teams play, and they even had the opportunity to play one of the conference teams, Salem College, and earn a 6-5 victory.
Playing a USA South Conference team, they were able to see how great their competition will be this season, and learned their strengths and what they needed to practice.
The Grand Slam Triangle Classic was meant for the teams to play tough competition to help prepare each team for the start of conference play. The Pacers are looking to dominate conference play, so they can achieve their goal of winning the conference championship.