The Shorter softball team opened their home schedule at their newly-renovated facility in strong style.

The Lady Hawks extended their winning streak to 14 games by sweeping Southern Wesleyan, 8-1 and 9-6, in a non-conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Alto Park.

The Lady Hawks (15-1) pounded out a total of 28 hits in the two games.

In Game 1, Kayla Cooper went 2-for-3 with a homer and Kayla Byrom and Christina Ezell combined to on a two-hitter.

Cooper, Jackie Castaneda and Bre Johnson collected two RBIs apiece for Shorter. Byrom did not allow a hit over her final three innings of work. She improved to 3-0 by striking out two in four innings before Ezell entered in relief and closed out the game, fanning eight and allowing just one hit in three innings.

During one stretch, Ezell retired six straight batters by way of strikeout.

Shorter’s Whitney Hood tied the game at 1 in the second with an RBI double.

Shorter took a 3-1 lead in the third on a Johnson RBI single and Amanda Dailey RBI double then extended its lead to 5-1 on Cooper’s two-run bomb over the new 12-foot wall right center field.

It was Cooper’s team-high sixth homer and the first at Shorter’s renovated complex.

Shorter capped its scoring in the bottom of the sixth, as Kendall Johnson tripled with one out then scored when Castaneda tripled to score her and Cooper, who had walked the batter before.

Bre Johnson ripped another RBI single up the middle to score Castaneda for the 8-1 final margin.

The Lady Hawks pounded out 13 hits as Castaneda, Johnson, Dailey and Sarah Corn each tallied a pair of hits. Shorter racked up five extra base hits in the win.

In the nightcap, Shorter used a four-run fourth to rally from a two-run deficit, then leaned on the relief pitching of Maddie Bray and Ezell to close out the Warriors in a 9-6 win.

The Lady Hawks trailed 5-3 after the Warriors used a Ashleigh Wilbur RBI double, Kylie Klim sacrifice fly and Allison Barbee RBI single to take the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth.

Shorter wasted no time responding in the home half, as Cooper laced an RBI double that scored Janell Echols and Kendall Johnson plated Cooper with a hard shot to third to tie the score at 5.

Shorter loaded the bases and took a 6-5 lead when Dailey’s shot to short was mishandled, scoring Castaneda.

Hood followed with an RBI single that scored Kellee Stone and made it 7-5.

The Warriors closed to within 7-6 with a run in the sixth, but the Lady Hawks again mounted a response, this time getting RBI singles from Castaneda and Dailey to go up 9-6.

Ezell shut the door in the seventh to earn the save.

Bray got the win in relief of starter Kristen Little, tossing 2.1 innings and allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with two strikeouts.

Ezell allowed just one hit over 1.2 innings and fanned three in her second relief stint of the day.

Offensively, Kendall Johnson drove in three runs in Game 2 while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Dailey went 3-for-4 with a pair driven in while Cooper, Castaneda and Felicia Morris also tallied multiple base knocks. Shorter totaled 15 hits in Game 2.

BERRY BASEBALL: Vikings complete sweep

The Vikings completed a three-game sweep of Sewanee by taking both ends of Friday’s doubleheader, 12-2 and 8-1, at Bowdoin Field.

Berry improved to 8-6 overall and 5-1 in Southern Athletic Association play. Sewanee dropped to 4-8 and 0-6.

In the opener, Berry rattled off innings of five, four and three runs scored to come out on top.

Austin Neely had three hits for Berry, and Alex McGill and Nick Stidham each recorded two hits apiece.

Berry starting pitcher Ryan O’Connell (1-2) threw five scoreless innings and surrendered four hits and a walk to earn his first career victory.

Sewanee’s Jacob Simpson (2-2) gave up seven hits and five runs (all earned).

In the nightcap, Sewanee jumped ahead with a first-inning tally, but Berry scored the game’s final eight runs to secure the win.

Zach Farmer paced Berry with three hits and two RBIs, and Stephen Gaylor drove in two runs. Jack Rogers picked up two hits for Sewanee.

Chad Busby (1-0) started on the mound for Berry, and recorded his first win of the season. He pitched four innings of one-run ball, struck out six and walked one.

BERRY WOMEN’S TENNIS:

Lady Vikes fall to Coe

The Berry College women’s tennis team lost to Coe College, 6-3, at Sanlando Park on Thursday.

It was the first loss of the season for the Lady Vikings, who fell to 4-1.

Berry’s lone win came from Emma O’Reilly, who defeated Amy Sebastian, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2 singles.

The Berry also lost to Coe, 9-0.

Coe improved to 17-0 with the win; Berry fell to 1-5.