BELMONT, N.C. - The Newberry College softball team opened up its season in impressive fashion as the scarlet and gray won both games of a doubleheader against Belmont Abbey. The scarlet and gray (2-0) defeated the Crusaders (0-2) in the first game, 3-0, followed by a 9-4 victory in game two.

Game One: Newberry 3, Belmont Abbey 0
Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) pitched a complete game shutout with four hits and three walks to give Newberry a victory in the season opener.

The scarlet and gray supplied Hicks with runs in the second inning as Sara Powell (Ocean View, Del.) drew a leadoff walk and then moved to second on an error that allowed Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) to reach first. After both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt, Angela Cataldo (Sumter, S.C.) brought home Powell with a sacrifice fly. Huckestein scored on a single by Christine Stokes (Charleston, S.C.) to push the lead to 2-0.

The scarlet and gray extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth as Huckestein led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a groundout by Cataldo, who lead Newberry with two RBIs.

Newberry had four hits in the triumph and no errors, while the Crusaders had four hits and two errors in the game. All four hits came from different individuals as Huckestein, Stokes, Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) and Amy Jarrell (Dover, Del.) earned hits.

Carrie Markham took the loss for Belmont after giving up three runs, one earned, in five innings.

Game One Box Score

Game Two: Newberry 9, Belmont Abbey 4
In game two, Newberry scored the game's first seven runs after plating one in the first, two in the second, one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Huckestein came away with the victory with seven innings of production, which included five strikeouts, four hits and only one earned run.

The Newberry offense exploded in the second game registering ten hits, three doubles and five RBIs. Leading Newberry in hits was Powell, who finished game two with a 3-for-5 performance that included two RBIs and one run scored.

Newberry allowed its first runs of the season in the fifth inning as Katie Hobbs singled home Danielle Devlin, who earlier reached on a fielder's choice.

The scarlet and gray put up two more runs in the sixth inning as Hammond drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to third on a Huckestein double. Hammond scored on a wild pitch, while Huckestein later crossed home after a Amanda Schumacher groundout.

Newberry committed two errors in the game and left eight runners stranded, but still defeated the Crusaders by five.

Game Two Boxscore

The scarlet and gray's next doubleheader is this Wednesday, Feb. 11 starting at 2 p.m. on the campus of USC Aiken. Last year, Newberry split the season series with the Pacers, 1-1.