WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Brevard College softball team (5-10, 1-3 USA South) shut out Salem College (8-14, 1-1 USAS) in game one for its first USA South Conference win of 2025, splitting a doubleheader with the Spirits on Wednesday afternoon at Blixt Field.
 
Brevard recorded its third shutout performance of the season in game one, 3-0, before Salem responded with a come-from-behind 9-7 victory in the day's second contest.
   
Elizabeth Auciello (2-5) got the start for the Tornados in the circle, logging her second complete-game shutout of the season – and first seven-inning shutout of her Tornado career. Auciello, a junior first-year Tornado from Tavares, Florida, allowed just four hits and struck out five Spirits over the course of the complete-game outing.
 
Andrea Furr went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Rylee Locklear, Analee Morris, and Regan Winkler also logged base hits. Locklear drove in two runs on a two-RBI double, and Winkler capped the scoring off for BC with an RBI double of her own.  Locklear also added a stolen base on the basepaths.
 
Maleah Tate was 2-for-3 at the dish, and Emma Greeson recorded a double for the Spirits. Riley Dennis (4-7) also spun a complete game, allowing five hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts and a walk.
 
BC broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the second inning when Furr logged a one-out single, followed by a two-out walk by Jadyn Harlow. Locklear capitalized with a two-RBI double with two outs, giving the Nados the early cushion.
 
The Spirits got a runner all the way to third base in both the bottom of the first and second innings, but they were unable to break through. Morris notched a leadoff single in the top of the third, and advanced all the way to third on a ground out. Winkler then split the gap in right-center field, as the Tornados added insurance to its lead, 3-0.
 
The Spirits were caught stealing twice in the bottom of the third, as catcher Alyssa Boris showcased her throwing arm. Auciello and the Tornado defense held the Spirits off the scoreboard through the final four frames of the game, recording a pair of 1-2-3 innings and keeping Salem out of scoring position for the rest of the contest as Brevard wrapped up its three-run win.
   
A six-run second inning was not enough for the Tornados, as Salem scored a total of seven runs from the third-to-sixth innings to come back and defeat Brevard, 9-7.
 
Salem took advantage of a Tornado first-inning error and a pair of hits to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. BC responded in a huge way, totaling six runs on four hits and two Salem errors in the top of the second inning. Boris led the inning off with a walk, followed by a Furr single. A fielding error allowed pinch-runner Addie MacDougall to come across and score, cutting the Spirit lead in half. Addison Smith came through with a two-RBI double, followed up immediately with a Morris RBI double as Brevard surged ahead, 4-2.
 
Michaela Jones kept the rally going with an RBI single, bringing Morris around to score. Jones then stole second base, and another Salem error allowed her to come across and score, as the Tornados pulled ahead by four, 6-2.
 
Salem scratched across a run in the bottom of the third, as two Tornado errors allowed the Spirits to cut the deficit to three runs at 6-3. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth trimmed the lead to two just before the pivotal bottom of the fifth. The hosts scored four runs on four hits and a BC error to flip the script and take a two-run lead, 8-6.
 
Locklear drew a HBP in the top of the sixth, and advanced to second on a ground out. Morris then put the ball in play and reached via an error, as Locklear crossed the plate and cut the deficit to one run, 8-7.
 
Reese Upton came through with a critical insurance run for the Spirits with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, as Salem took a two-run edge into the game's final frame.
 
A fielding error allowed Boris to reach with one out, but a force out and an infield pop up ended a potential Tornado rally as Salem wrapped up its 9-7 triumph.
 
Furr led all Tornados with a 3-for-4 performance, with Jones, Morris, and Smith totaling hits as well. Auciello and Logan Masinsky (2-2) worked in the circle for the Tornados in the second game of the day. Carmen Duffey earned the win for the Spirits, hurling four innings with one hit and no earned runs allowed.
 
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