No. 17 Gaston College completes unbeaten home season with DH sweep on "Sophomore Day"

Gaston College's No. 17-ranked softball team closed out an precedent-setting unbeaten home season on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Region 10 rival USC Salkehatchie on "Sophomore Day" at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park.

The Rhinos won 8-0 and 20-2 in a pair of five-inning games to improve to 47-4 overall and 15-1 in Region 10.

"Coming of an emotional couple of games with FloDar and the extracurriculars of 'Sophomore Day' you have some worries about being ready to roll," said Gaston College coach Michael Steuerwald, whose team swept second-place Florence Darlington Tech on Thursday. "And we put ourselves in a good spot with a big week of road games coming up."

Sophomores Savanna Mullins (4 innings, 2 strikeouts) and Tea Cornett (3 1/3 innings, 3 strikeouts) were the starters and winners, respectively, in the two contests. And another sophomore, starting outfielder Mary Hinson, made her 2026 pitching debut after being a bullpen regular last season.

Freshman Alexa Bianchi-Rossi had five hits that including two doubles and two triples and eight RBIs to power the Gaston College offense.

Other hitting standouts were Hinson (3 hits, triple, 1 RBI), Katelyn Brandon (2 hits, double, 1 RBI), Jalyn Kopp (2 hits, 3 RBIs) and Miranda Wall (2 hits, double, 3 RBIs).

The results closed the home schedule with a first-ever unbeaten home record as the Rhinos finished 26-0 at the CaroMont Health Park.

"That's a great historic accomplishment for this group," Steuerwald said.

Next week, the Rhinos play six road games - all in Region 10 - starting with a 1 p.m. Wednesday doubleheader at USC Union followed by a 2 p.m. April 17 doubleheader at USC Sumter and noon April 18 doubleheader at USC Sumter.

"We're focused on staying fresh, playing at a high level and keeping everybody healthy and ready to go," Steuerwald said.