>Opponent: 
Salem at William Peace | April 12 | Raleigh, N.C. | 1 / 3 p.m.

>SPIRITS RETURN TO RALEIGH, FACE WILLIAM PEACE
The Salem softball team will make a return trip to Raleigh, N.C., for the second time in six days when it faces William Peace in a doubleheader clash on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. 

North Carolina's capital city has not been kind to Salem, which has dropped seven straight contests between clashes with Meredith and William Peace. 

>ON THING CERTAIN…THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
Baserunners from the first 15 teams to play against Salem this season would come to a consensus on one fact—thou shalt not steal on Kayla Dick. 

Dick has stopped seven baserunners in their track from swiping a base on the Spirits' defense. That is three shy of Madison Burch's single-season program record (10), which came in the 2018 campaign. 

Dick, a first-year catcher, has been successful on getting seven caught steals this season, the fifth-most in a single season in program history. While Burch has the most with 10, Allie Watkins notched nine in 2013 for the second-most. Both Sydney Davidson and Kayla Kennedy finished with eight each in 2013 and 2014, respectively. 

>TATE SETS SIGHTS ON USA SOUTH ALL-TIME STOLEN BASE RECORD
With the Salem program record in steals in her back pocket, a mark she established last season, junior speedster Maleah Tate has her sights set on the USA South's all-time record stolen base mark. 

Tate swiped a program single-season record 28 bases in 2024, topping the previous mark of 22 that was established by Karson Chapman in 2013. Along the way, she became the Spirits' all-time steals leader, ending the season with 40. 

Entering this weekend, Tate has equaled her single-season record that she set in 2024 by swiping 28 bases this season. Tate not only leads the Spirits in stolen bases, but she tops the USA South Conference stolen base leaders as well. She has four more than Ivy Ray (Greensboro) and six more than N.C. Wesleyan's Skyler Walker. 

Tate would need five steals in a game to tie both TK Sauls (Piedmont) and Sandy Miller (Christopher Newport) for the league mark. The top stolen base artist in the league in a season belongs to Vada Blue Sherrill, who swiped 52 in 2019 for Pfeiffer. 

Samantha Hall (Averett) owns the career record in steals for the USA South, swiping 131 in her career for the Cougars between 2014 and 2017. Through the first 86 games of her Salem career, Tate has swiped 65 bases in her career. 

>DENNIS AMONG TOP-10 IN SINGLE-SEASON STRIKEOUTS
Another first-year player making their impression on the Salem record books is pitcher Riley Dennis. 

Dennis, who has logged 82 innings in the circle in 2025, has made 17 appearances and 14 starts for the Spirits. Along the way, Dennis has fanned a team-high 74 opposing hitters, which places her second in the USA South. Dennis is topped in the league by only Lillie Davis (Meredith), who has 94 K's to her credit. 

Dennis has the eighth-most single-season strikeouts in Salem history and is three shy of Kayla Ogle for seventh-most, a mark Ogle established in 2018. Both Lauryn Smith and Kayla Ogle struck out 85 batters in a single season, which is fifth-most in Salem history. Smith set the mark in 2015 and Ogle equaled it in 2019. 

In 2025, Dennis has notched at least four strikeouts on eight occasions. Her Top-3 strikeout performances this season have come against Johnson & Wales (12), Carolina University (9) and both St. Andrews and Oberlin, where she fanned eight batters each. 

Dennis can also claim that she etched her name in Salem softball history by recording the fifth no hitter in program history in game one of the series with Johnson & Wales on March 22nd. She became the fifth different Salem pitcher to toss a complete game no hitter and recorded the second-most strikeouts (12) in a no hitter in program history.

>INSIDE THE SALEM NUMBERS
-Two Salem hitters, Maleah Tate (.387) and NeVaeha George (.319) are boasting better than a .300 batting average heading into the clash with William Peace. Tate leads all Salem sluggers with 29 hits, while George is second with 23. Kayla Dick, who is hitting .296 on the season, is third with 21 hits, while first-year classmate Reese Upton has 20 hits for the Spirits. 
-Maleah Tate not only leads the Spirits in hits and stolen bases, but she is also tops in runs scored with 20. The Salem speedster has a .452 on-base percentage and a .387 slugging percentage. 
-Entering this weekend, Salem has 33 doubles on the season, highlighted by Reese Upton's six. Upton is one of five Spirits with at least four doubles on the season, including NeVaeha George, who has five. Olivia Porter, Carmen Duffey and Kayla Dick all have four each. 
-The Spirits have surpassed the number of triples as a team (seven) that they had combined in the last two seasons, which included five in 2024. The last time that Salem had at least six triples in a season was 2016.
-Salem has managed double-digit triples on only two occasions. The most was by the 2014 unit, which tallied 21. One year earlier, in 2013, Salem tallied 11 triples. 
-Seven players have entered the circle for the Spirits this season, combining for 118 strikeouts. That ranks as the seventh-most single-season K's in program history and is two shy of the 2015 unit for sixth-most strikeouts. The most single-season K's came in 2018, when Salem fanned 196 batters, a feat that was replicated in 2019. 
While Dennis has the most of any individual with 74, Salem has also gotten 21 strikeouts from Isabella Morales and 17 from Carmen Duffey. 

>MEREDITH COMES AWAY WITH SWEEP OF SALEM ON APRIL 6th 
Meredith combined 22 hits along with a pair of complete game pitching performances from Lillie Davis and Kaylee Manning to earn a sweep of Salem in USA South Conference softball action on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., by scores of 9-1 and 6-0. 

The Spirits were led at the plate on the afternoon by first year's Kayla Dick and Jelene Avila, who came through with a double and an RBI in game one. NeVaeha George had one hit in each game for the Salem's offense. 

GAME 1 | Meredith 9, Salem 1 (6 inn.)
W: Lillie Davis (11-5) / L: Riley Dennis (4-10)
Salem Leaders: Kayla Dick (1-3, double), Jelene Avila (2-3, RBI), Olivia Porter (1-3), NeVaeha George (1-2), Carmen Duffey (1-3), Maleah Tate (1-1, run)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-The Spirits got five hits from the top four sluggers in the lineup, which included Jelene Avila, Kayla Dick, Olivia Porter and NeVaeha George in succession. 
-Riley Dennis tossed four innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits while making two strikeouts. 
-Carmen Duffey logged 1.1 innings in the circle, making one strikeout along the way. 
-Jelene Avila manufactured the lone Salem run of the game in the fifth, scoring Maleah Tate with a single to left field. 

GAME 2 | Meredith 6, Salem 0
W: Kaylee Manning (6-6) / L: Carmen Duffey (1-2) 
Salem Leaders: NeVaeha George (1-3), Madison Long (1-2), Lauryn Fisher (1-1)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Salem had three players with one hit in the game, including NeVaeha George (1-3), Madison Long (1-2), Lauryn Fisher (1-1). 
-Duffey tossed six innings, allowing 11 hits, six runs (five earned runs) and closed with a pair if K's. 

>SCOUTING REPORT: WILLIAM PEACE 
All-Time Series Record vs. William Peace: William Peace leads the all-time series 14-11-1
The Pacers have won seven consecutive games in the series, dating back to a 6-5 win in game two of the doubleheader on March 19, 2019. Prior to that, Salem had won five straight. 

William Peace, which is on a six-game losing streak entering the clash with Salem, is 15-13 overall and 2-6 in the USA South Conference. The Pacers are 7-3 when playing at the WPU Softball Complex. 

After splitting a doubleheader with Roanoke, winning the second game of the series, William Peace has dropped doubleheader clashes with Mary Baldwin, Meredith and Methodist in succession. 

The Pacers have six hitters with at least a .300 batting average, including the tandem of Adanya Day (.434) and Reagan Stewart (.422), who lead the way. Day tops the unit in hits (36), runs scored (26), doubles (seven), home runs (seven) and is second to Stewart in RBI (31). Day is responsible for a .771 batting average along with a .515 on-base percentage for the Pacers. 

The William Peace bullpen is anchored by the tandem of Kimberly Bordeaux and Reagan Stewart in 2025. Bordeaux has made 13 starts in 16 appearances, logging 82 innings in the circle. She has converted 72 K's and surrendered 58 runs (47 earned runs) along the way. Stewart has tossed 75 innings, fanned 42 opposing hitters and allowed 93 hits and 61 runs (47 earned runs).