BLUEFIELD, Va. (April 13) - The Tiger pitching staff held Bluefield State to seven total hits and posted a pair of shutout wins, 5-0 and 4-0, in a non-conference sweep Monday afternoon.

The sweep improves the Salem International softball team to 7-23 overall. Meanwhile, the Blues fall to 5-17 overall this season.

The first two batters reached base in the second inning for the Tigers, when freshman Hanna Crew (Canton, Ohio/Perry) delivered a two-RBI double to give Salem International the lead.

The score remained 2-0 until the sixth inning, when junior Brittany Diss (Byesville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) connected on a RBI single to extend the lead. Junior Katie Chryssofos added the final insurance marker with a solo home run in the seventh inning to help the Tigers secure the win.

Redshirt-freshman Kayla Lynch (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) earned the complete-game shutout win in game one. Lynch (2-11) limited the Blues to zero runs on four hits and struck out five, while issuing two walks.

Chryssofos, Crew, and freshmen Cass Alexy (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) and Alyssa Discepola (Rio Grande, N.J./Middle Township) all finished with two hits at the plate in the win.

Freshman pitcher Katie Holestin (Covington, Va./Allegheny) picked up where Lynch left off by pitching a second complete-game shutout to complete the sweep of Bluefield State in a 5-0 win.

Freshman Tori Butler (Hedgesville, W.Va./Musselman) led the second game off with a single, stole second, and scored on a Discepola RBI double. Discepola added to the Tigers lead in the fourth with a solo home run, the first of her collegiate career, to give Salem International a 2-0 lead.

Junior Jane Judware (North Lawrence, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) helped plate another run in the sixth with a successful safety squeeze play, and Salem International added two more runs in the seventh to earn the win and sweep Bluefield State.

Holestin (5-12) earned the win in the circle after tossing a complete-game shutout in which she allowed just three hits and struck out four with two walks issued. She also helped her own cause with two hits, a double and a triple, to help the Tigers pick up the sweep.

Discepola, who was playing in her first games since suffereing an injury at West Virginia Wesleyan on April 1, finished game two with two hits, three RBI and a run scored. The New Jersey native finished the day 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs scored, while playing for the first time in nearly two weeks.

The Tigers will return back to Hope Field tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14 when they play host to Ohio Valley in the first two of four games against the Scots. Salem International will host two on Tuesday, before heading to Vienna on Wednesday to conclude the series. The first-pitch on Tuesday is set for 2 p.m.