WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (February 16, 2019) – The Webber International University softball team started off its four-game stretch in the NAIA Kickoff Classic at the Polk State Diamond Plex in Winter Haven, Florida, with a 3-1 win over Olivet Nazarene College on Friday, February 15. The Warriors then finished off Friday night with a tough 1-0 defeat against No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett College after a leadoff home run by the Grizzles in the seventh inning; and then on Saturday, February 16, Webber fell to Martin Methodist College 9-0 in five innings before battling No. 5 GGC and again falling by one run, this time a 4-3 decision in eight innings.

"I'm not excited about the results of the weekend, but I am very excited about how our team dealt with adversity," said first-year Head Coach Kristy Burton. "We played a very good program in two tight games against Georgia Gwinnett, which shows us we have potential for a great year. We won a very good game against Olivet Nazarene, and although we had a tough loss against Martin Methodist to start our Saturday games, it was nice to see this program flip a switch and compete in our last game of the weekend. We have a long way to go, but this team is special. I am excited to see how we respond to this weekend."

Game 1 (Webber 3, Olivet Nazarene 1):

• The Warriors put up all three of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Cassidy Roberts led off with a double down the left field line and was brought home on a double by Victoria Atkinson again down the left field line two batters later before back-to-back RBI-singles by Mary-Margaret Maggard and Kaitlin Cockcroft.
• Roberts, CC Smith, Atkinson, Maggard and Cockroft each recorded a hit.
• Raven White improved to 2-0 on the season at the time, shutting down the opposition to a tune of nine hits, zero walks and one run over all seven innings.

 
Game 2 (Webber 0, No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett 1):

• The Warriors' offense was shutout and held to only four hits by Georgia Gwinnett's Piper Wagner (2-0), who struck out six batters in the complete game.
• Emma Maitland (2-1), meanwhile, also held the Grizzles to only four hits and struck out six in a complete game effort, but it was the home run to center to lead off the seventh inning by Georgia Gwinnett's Sydney Willhite that made the difference.
• Maitland at one point recorded 12 straight outs between the third and the sixth innings.
• Webber's first hit did not come until the bottom of the fourth inning when CC Smith singled to center with one out. Smith finished with two hits while Cassidy Roberts and Victoria Atkinson added Webber's other knocks,
• Mary-Margaret Maggard nearly put the Warriors ahead twice earlier in the contest with long fly outs to the fence in center field, near the same spot that Willhite hit her game-winner.

 
Game 3 (Webber 0, Martin Methodist 9 – 5 innings):

• Webber fell behind early as starter Stacy Pericles (0-2) walked three batters and hit two others, leading to two runs in the bottom of the first for the Redhawks.
• Martin Methodist would add seven more runs off of Stephanie Johnson between the third and fourth innings to set up the run rule.
• Offensively, Webber was held two only two hits, a double by Mary-Margaret Maggard to lead off the second and a single by Dariyen Moss with two outs in the fifth and final inning.

 
Game 4 (Webber 3, No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett 4 – 8 innings):

• Webber held leads of 1-0 in the first inning, 2-1 in the sixth inning and 3-2 in the eighth inning, but the fifth-ranked team in the NAIA showed its resilience by responding in the bottom half of each respective inning.
• Webber's lead in the eighth inning came as Ka'Deisha McCowen bunted CC Smith over to third base with one out, where she was brought in on a sacrifice fly to left by Victoria Atkinson.
• However, after a walk by Mary-Margaret Maggard and a single up the middle by Kaitlin Cockcroft put runners on first and second for Webber, a groundout ended the inning as the missed opportunity to add another run came back to haunt the Warriors.
• An error by the Warriors on the Grizzles' bunt attempt to open the bottom of the eighth put runners on first and third with nobody out, and then a single to left tied the game and put the winning run on second still with nobody out.
• After a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs, the Warriors induced a fielder's choice to Sabrina Hebding at third base to get the force out at home, but a single toward short by the Grizzles' Taylor Takushi again left the Warriors feeling disappointed after battling hard against one of the best teams in the NAIA.
• Cockroft finished 2-for-2 at the dish while Smith, McCowen, Maggard, Beatriz Navarro and Alyssa Rodriguez added Webber's five other hits.
• Emma Maitland allowed only two hits, two runs and one earned run over her 5.1 innings to start the game, but Raven White (2-1) suffered her first loss of the season with three hits and two unearned runs to her credit over the final two innings.
• For Georgia Gwinnett, Alexa Good allowed seven hits, three runs and one earned run over the first 7.2 innings until Taylor Hansis (6-0) recorded the final Warrior out in the top half of the eighth to earn her sixth win already in the early going of the season. GGC is now 10-0.

 
Combined Statistical Leaders:

• Kaitlin Cockcroft hit .375 with three hits and two RBI's.
• CC Smith hit .364 with a team-best four hits, two runs scored, one sacrifice and a stolen base.
• Mary-Margaret Maggard batted .333 with three hits, two runs scored, two RBI's, two walks and a double.
• Raven White allowed one earned run and three total runs in nine innings of work for a 1.00 ERA.
• Emma Maitland pitched 12.1 innings and allowed only six hits, three total runs and two earned runs for a 1.46 ERA. She also struck out eight batters.