MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – UPIKE softball went to the beach for spring break for a week filled of games. The Bears had four games over the last two days, here's how they did.

Game 1 – Bears defeat Penn State Fayette, 11-1

It took a while for the offense to get cooking, but the Bears ended up dominating the week's first game against Penn State Fayette, winning 11-1.

UPIKE scored nine runs in the last three innings to blow the game wide open.

Meanwhile, Hannah Skaggs was great throughout in the circle. She pitched six innings and allowed just four hits while pushing her record to a perfect 5-0 on the season.

Penn State's first and only run of the game came in the second inning as they were able to string together a couple hits.

That run came after UPIKE scored a pair of runs in the top of the inning on an RBI single from Elizabeth Hickey and a sacrifice fly from Macy Jones.

Seven of UPIKE's nine starters, and 11 players overall recorded a hit in the outing. Hannah Absher led the Bears with three hits in the game with two RBIs, while Hickey and Haley Osborne had two hits each.

UPIKE scored another two runs in the fifth inning as Alysha Bolling did all the work on her run, reaching on a single, then stealing second and coming around to score on a pair of errors on the same play. Zoe Ingram scored the other on a sacrifice fly.

After scoring one in the sixth, Pikeville took advantage of a pitcher change and scored sixth in the seventh inning. Haley Karr got the scoring started with a two-run home run, the only extra base hit for the Bears in the game. Haven Layne, Alyssa Franklin, and Absher recorded the other RBIs.

Game 2 – Rio Grande defeats UPIKE 2-1

Monday's second game was another pitcher's duel between UPIKE's Megan Claypoole and Rio's Raelynn Hastings. Unfortunately, UPIKE ended up on the wrong side of the decision, losing 2-1.

Rio got on the board nearly immediately with an unearned run with two sacrifice plays bringing the run home.

UPIKE tied the game up in the third with another home run, this one the first in the collegiate career of Macy Jones.

The game remained tied until the sixth inning when the RedStorm connected three straight hits off Claypoole to take the lead.

Those three hits represented half of Rio's total hit production in the ballgame as the junior pitcher allowed just five hits in the game and struck out six. Mattea Ware pitched the seventh inning and gave up a harmless hit in her lone inning of work.

Game 3 – UPIKE defeats Haskell, 7-0

Hannah Skaggs turned in the pitching performance of the year so far in Tuesday's first game, turning in a one-hit shutout of Haskell, leading the Bears to a 7-0 win. Skaggs also struck out nine in the complete game effort.

Pikeville also experienced great success offensively, tallying 11 hits off the Indians.

Alysha Bolling and Maci James each had three hits at the top of the order for the Bears, with James picking up a team-high three RBIs. Alyssa Franklin also provided a big spark from the cleanup spot with two hits and two RBIs.

Although they only needed one, the Bears scored two runs in the first, third and fourth innings each and scored one in the sixth.

Pikeville also showcased their speed on the bases with six total stolen bases in the game.

Game 4 – UPIKE defeats Ohio Christian, 9-3

The fourth game of the trip was another barnburner for the Bears who jumped out to an early 6-0 lead en route to a 9-3 final decision.

Pikeville broke out the long hits in a big way against the Trailblazers with a total of five extra-base hits in the contest, including two home runs for Mackenzie Pawlak. Pawlak also had a triple in the contest leading to a season-high four RBI game.

She was able to drive in those runs thanks to Hannah Absher almost always getting on base in front of her with three hits, including a triple of her own.

Once again, seven of the nine starters recorded at least one hit in the game, with Kelsey Whtite driving in two runs from the ninth spot in the lineup. Zoe Ingram and Haley Osborne also added RBI's for the Bears.

Megan Claypoole turned in another solid outing for the Bears in the circle, earning the complete game victory. She gave up just six hits and struck out five, needing just 90 pitches to record the victory.

UP NEXT                                                                                        

UPIKE will continue their Myrtle Beach run after a day off Wednesday with two games on Thursday and two on Friday before returning home to host Shawnee State on Monday to begin conference play.

-UPIKE-