CLERMONT, Fla.  –The Drury softball team scored 19 runs on 20 hits Saturday to earn a sweep over Grand Valley State and Findlay.  The Panthers defeated Grand Valley 8-5 in the opener, then crushed Findlay 11-4 in the nightcap at the NTC Spring Games.

Drury, who has won 7 of their last 10 games, improved to 9-9 on the season.  Grand Valley State dropped to 6-9, and Findlay fell to 8-9.

In the opener, a pair of RBI doubles in the bottom of the fourth by Miki Andrus and Hannah Hearst got the Panthers on the board.  Drury scored on a Laker error to cap off a three run, two hit fourth inning.

Grand Valley State tied the game on a three RBI double in the fifth, then added a run on a Panther error to end the inning for their first lead.  In the bottom half of the fifth, Drury scored five runs on four hits and two errors to put the game away.

Grand Valley added a run in the seventh on an RBI groundout, but could draw no closer. 

Both teams finished with eight hits.  GVSU was led by Kaylie Rhynard, who went 3 for 4 and scored a run.  Hearst, the designated player, led the Panther attack, going 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBI's. 

Grand Valley left 10 runners on base, and Drury left eight.

Jessica Kjeldgaard (5-5) earned the win with two strikeouts in six innings.  Courtney Reinhold (5-5) received the loss for the Lakers, and allowed four of the Panthers eight hits. 

In the nightcap, Drury scored runs in the top of the first and third, before scoring six runs on three hits and three errors, to distance themselves in the fourth for an 8-0 lead.  The Oilers scored three runs on five hits in the fourth to cut into the Panther lead. 

Drury closed it out with two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh.  Findlay scratched across their final run in the seventh on an RBI triple.

Kaelie Smith went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, and Kari Hillenburg was 3 for 5 and scored four runs.  Dominique Salinas, a freshman from Houston, Texas, went 4 for 6 on the day, scored three runs, and had an RBI.

Destiny Bolen (4-4) had six K's, and allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings to get the win.  Jenna Inman (3-1) received the loss for Findlay, and allowed four hits in three innings.

Tomorrow at the NTC Spring Games, Drury will face Kutztown University at 7 a.m. and Saint Michael's College at 9:30 a.m.