WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise softball team earned two dominant, run-rule victories against visiting Bluefield State College Thursday afternoon in non-conference action at Cavalier Field. The Cavaliers (12-8) picked up both wins after just four and a half innings of play in each contest, defeating the Big Blues (0-16) 20-0 in game one and 16-0 in the second game of the afternoon.
 
UVa-Wise lined a total of 23 hits in the doubleheader sweep as the Cavs' pitching staff allowed just two hits the entire afternoon. Bluefield State got runners on base just four times and left all four stranded. Senior right-handed pitcher Emily Kale (Shelby, N.C.) had a near perfect game in the opening contest and tossed a no-hitter with only 53 total pitches and one walk. In her first collegiate start, freshman right-hander Kaitlyn Stratton (Wise, Va.) picked up a complete game shutout win in game two.
 
Seventeen different Cavs scored a run in the two games and UVa-Wise hit .575 as a team for the day. Senior Alexa Hernandez (Woodbridge, Va.) went 3-for-3 in the doubleheader with two home runs, including a grand slam in game two, and a double. The second baseman tallied seven RBI, scored four times and was walked once, while junior third baseman Samantha Ely (Jonesville, Va.) also went 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBI, four runs scored and two doubles. Junior right fielder Zoe Millard (Glen Allen, Va.) went 4-for-5 in the two games, scoring four runs and collecting three RBI as freshman shortstop Nikki Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) went 3-for-4 at the plate and totaled five RBI. Senior first baseman Olivia Cleary (Riner, Va.) knocked in a triple on a 1-for-2 day and earned three RBI and a run while being walked twice. Sophomore left fielder Shannon Bennett (Covington, Va.) scored five of the Cavs' 36 runs after recording a hit, being hit by pitch twice, walking once and reaching on an error.
 
Scoring four or more runs in each inning of game one, UVa-Wise built a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a pair of doubles and a passed ball. The Cavs' advantage quickly blossomed to 10 when UVa-Wise registered six runs in the second frame. Hernandez blasted her first home run of the afternoon, a two-run shot over the left field fence, in the bottom of the third to give the Cavs a 12-0 lead. Moments later Smith singled up the middle for two RBI to make it a 14-0 game.
 
UVa-Wise would get six more runs in the fourth inning including another two RBI hit from Smith and RBI single by freshman catcher Melissa Bartley (Jenkins, Ky.), the first of her collegiate career.
 
Smith finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with five RBI as Millard, Hernandez and Ely each went 2-for-2. Hernandez, Ely and Cleary totaled three RBI each, while Bennett and Ely combined to account for six of the Cavs' 20 runs.
 
Kale struck out six batters in five innings of work inside the circle to earn UVa-Wise's first no-hitter in quite some time, improving to 2-0 on the season. Bluefield State's Emily Day (0-11) took the loss for the Big Blues after pitching three innings and giving up 11 hits and nine earned runs.
 
The Cavs scored at least one run in each inning in the second game of the afternoon and took a commanding lead after an 11-run opening inning. Following two hit by pitch RBI with bases loaded and a RBI single from Millard, Hernandez connected on a grand slam over the center field fence for her second homer of the day. UVa-Wise tacked on one more run in the bottom of the second when Millard singled to center field for another RBI. Leading 12-0, the Cavs earned three runs in the third as sophomore Erika Counts (Clintwood, Va.) registered her first RBI of the season on a double to left field. Counts would then score on a RBI single from junior first baseman Monica Brandts (King George, Va.), before Bartley reached home on a walk by freshman pinch hitter Julia Hoy (Vienna, Va.).
 
UVa-Wise scored one final run in the bottom of the fourth when Ely doubled down the left field line to bring in sophomore second baseman Jackie Yahner (Vienna, Va.).
 
Millard finished game two 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored, while Hernandez had four RBI and also scored twice. Tossing her first game of the season, Stratton (1-0) gave up just two hits and a walk in five innings as she struck out five to earn the complete game shutout.
 
Bluefield State's Casey Spencer (0-3) took the loss for the Big Blues after giving up three hits and eight earned runs in only 1/3 inning of work.
 
The Cavs continue their 10-game homestand and return to league action Friday, March 25, when UVa-Wise hosts 13thr-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan. The doubleheader will get underway at 3 p.m. from Cavalier Field.
 
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