No. 16 Gaston College sweeps Region 10 road doubleheader

No. 16 Gaston College began a regular season-ending eight Region 10 road trip on Wednesday afternoon with 12-3 and 9-0 five-inning wins at USC Union.

"We know we're in a challenging eight-game road trip," Rhinos coach Michael Steuerwald said. "It was a good day for us to get those wins. Now we head to Sumter for a four-game series before we wrap it up with FloDar.
"We've set ourselves up for some special things in the last couple of weeks. We have to stay locked in and play it one game at a time."

Gaston College improved to 49-4 overall and 17-1 in Region 10 with its 12th straight victory. It gives the Rhinos a chance to win 50 games for a second straight year and give it two 50-win seasons in its four-year history.

Mary Hinson (5 hits, double, 2 RBIs), Adah Bruining (4 hits, double, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs), Alexa Bianchi-Rossi (3 hits, 1 RBI), Emery Skinner (2 hits, 1 RBI), Katelyn Brandon (2 doubles, 2 RBI), Miranda Wall (2 hits, double) and Savanna Mullins (2 hits, 2 RBIs) led the Gaston College offense.

On the mound, Aidan Ledbetter threw a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in the opener and Sophia Crist a four-hitter with two strikeouts in the nightcap.

Gaston College plays a four-game series at USC Sumter that starts with Friday's 2 p.m. doubleheader and concludes with Saturday's noon doubleheader at USC Sumter. A Rhinos' sweep of those four games would clinch at least a share for the school's fourth straight Region 10 regular season title.

The regular season finale - an April 22 1 p.m. doubleheader at Florence Darlington Tech - closes out the eight game road trip.