CLERMONT, Fla. (May 3, 2018) – The Webber International University softball team got off to a slow start at the 2018 Sun Conference Softball Tournament, falling behind 6-0 after one inning, and was never able to recover as the fifth-seeded Warriors fell to fourth-seeded the University of South Carolina Beaufort by a final score of 9-1 in six innings on Thursday at PFX Athletics Legends Way Ballfields.

It was the opening game of the double-elimination tournament as after a 1-2-3 top of the first inning for Webber (18-20), the Sand Sharks got to the Warriors' starter, Sabrina Hebding (7-7), from the get go in the first inning, sending nine batters to the plate and loading the bases on a leadoff walk and back-to-back bunt singles before exploding for four runs with no outs and six runs total in the inning.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard in the second inning as Meghan Lindell, an all-conference designated player, led off with a walk, advanced to second and third on back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Daisy Riggleman and Laura Borders and then scored on a single to left field by Megan Isoba for the first Warrior hit of the game.

Isoba was one of only two Warriors with hits as leadoff hitter Marisha Bullard finished 2-for-3.

After USCB (33-19) sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and belted out six hits, from there, Webber's relief pitcher Stephanie Johnson held the Sand Sharks to only two hits over the next four innings while stranding runners in scoring position in both the second and third innings until USCB ended it with a three-run sixth inning.

Meanwhile, after giving up a run in the second inning, USCB's starter Abby Pac (16-10) earned a strikeout to leave runners on first and second in the third inning, pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning and then recorded two outs on only two pitches in both the fifth and the sixth innings. She finished with only three hits allowed in the complete game effort with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Warriors will now play at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 4, in a win-or-go-home scenario. Webber will need three wins on day two to advance to the Sun Conference Championship game on day three (Saturday, May 5).