FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats started fast in each Saturday contest and reaped the benefits. Fort Valley State scored in the early innings, opened leads and swept past Clark Atlanta, 4-2 and 9-2, in the first day of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball action.

Trailing 1-0 after a half inning, FVSU did not let the deficit last long. Mariah Williams and Leah Leonard started the home turn at bat with back-to-back singles and both scored to make it 2-1. Ashtyn Perkins led off the second frame with a single and score on a Jennifer Ramirez sac bunt to for a two-run advantage, 3-1. Rachel Clark took over from there as she went the distance in the circle where she scattered 11 hits and only the one early run to go with six strikeouts for her second victory.

In the late contest, the Wildcats pushed across multiple runs in each of their first turns at the plate. Alexia Scott and Ramirez drove in runners on singles as part of a 3-run first. FVSU added two scores in each of the second, third and fourth and opened a 9-1 lead. Like Clark in the first game, Taylor Watson recorded her best outing of the season with giving up six Clark Atlanta hits and one earned run as she also struck out six in her win.

At the plate, Leonard led the home offense with a 3 for 6 afternoon with two runs, two RBI and a two stolen bases. Williams and Ramirez accounted for two hits apiece. Williams scored three times and swiped a pair of bases, while Ramirez drove in one. Laila Leverett doubled in a pinch hitting duty of game two, while Riley Jenkins went doubled with two runs and an RBI in the same contest. Scott, Perkins and Aundraya Lavaud finished the hitting with one hit apiece.

FVSU completes the 3-game series against Clark Atlanta on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 25) in a 1 p.m. first pitch.

-Wildcats-