The University of Pikeville softball team continued its spring break road trip with three midweek wins, including their first two AAC games of the season.
 
The Bears beat New Jersey City 6-0 on Monday afternoon in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., and then began league place with a sweep of St. Andrews (N.C.) University, winning 7-0 and 5-2.
 
Bears 6, Gothic Knights 0: UPike posted runs in four straight innings, including a three-run third inning en route to the shutout win.
 
The third was keyed by a two-run home run off the bat of Alyssa Franklin. Chloe Bryant and Sam Case had two hits for the Bears; Bryant scored a run and Case drove one in.
 
The Bears also got hits from Lillie Kluesner, Maria McClellan and Jasmine Kaylor.
 
Bryant went the distance to record her first decision of the season. She struck out five and walked one while allowing four hits.
 
Bears 7, Knights 0: CJ Alincic threw a two hitter as the Bears opened play in their new conference with a shutout win. She fanned 13 and walked only one in pitching the shutout.
 
Kaden Dunlap hit a solo homer in the seventh, scoring for the second time in the game. Franklin had two hits, driving one in and scoring once. Maddie Horn doubled and scored twice, while Kluesner had a hit and two runs scored.
 
Sara Bays, McClellan and Case had hits.
 
Bears 5, Knights 2: After allowing single runs in each of the first two innings to St. Andrews, UPike scored once in the third, twice in the fourth and added single runs in the fifth and seventh to pull out the win.
 
Case had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run for UPike. Horn and Kluesner also had singles and RBIs for the Bears.
 
Horn, Franklin, Kaylor and Katelyn Byrd all scored for the Bears, while Dunlap had an RBI.
 
Kelsie Hardester pitched all seven innings for the Bears. She struck out four and walked two while allowing five hits. Only one of the runs she allowed was earned.
 
--UPIKE--