The Southeast Conference season started with a bang for the Washington softball team on Thursday when they welcomed Mount Pleasant for a double dip and it was all Demons in the sweep. 

As heard on KCII, game one saw the Demons pepper 10 hits and take eight free passes en route to a 13-1 victory in four innings. They scored twice in the first, four in the second, five in the third, and two more in the fourth that ended on a RBI single from RyLee Fishback. The senior went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk while lead off batter Leighton Salazar finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and two free passes. Bella Salazar was in control in the circle tossing four frames giving up one run on three hits and striking out four. 

After the Panthers (1-6, 0-4) scored four times in the second inning of game two to tie it 4-4, the orange and black answered back with 11 runs in the bottom half that laid the ground work for a 18-6 win in three innings. All nine batters reached base safely with 14 hits altogether led by Leighton Salazar going 3-for-3 with three RBI. Fishback, Haley Mitchell, Ava Turner, and Emmy Wenger each had a pair of knocks. Claire Robinson got the win twirling three innings surrendering six runs on seven hits. 

Fishback, who finished the night with four hits, received high praise from head coach Ben Obermann in the postgame. “It is good to see RyLee have the success that she is early on this season. She got into a slump last year that she couldn’t get out of and that happens in this game. She worked tirelessly in the offseason and figured things out mechanically. It is a simplified approach and she is hitting the ball hard right now.”

Washington has outscored their conference rival 80-10 in the last six meetings. The Demons improve to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the SEC. They gear up for a weekend Iowa City tournament that starts this afternoon on the campus of The University of Iowa.