>Opponent: 
Salem vs. Greensboro | April 19 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Blixt Field | 1 / 3 p.m.

>PRIDE, SPIRITS FACE OFF IN TRIAD CLASH
The Salem softball team makes its return to Blixt Field for the first time in 14 days when it hosts Greensboro in a USA South Conference clash on Saturday afternoon. The Spirits are looking to claim their first wins at home since downing Brevard on March 26th. 

>CAPITAL CITY UNKIND TO SALEM WITH TRIPS TO MEREDITH, WILLIAM PEACE 
In the 14-day stretch since facing N.C. Wesleyan in Winston-Salem, Salem made two trips to Raleigh, N.C., to square off against Meredith (April 6) and William Peace (April 12), but came up empty-handed. 

Game 1: William Peace 6, Salem 3
W: Reagan Stewart (8-4) / L: Riley Dennis (4-11) | Sv.: Haley Joyce (2)
Salem Leaders: Maleah Tate (1-4, 2 RBI, triple), Kiersten Nelson (1-3, double), Carmen Duffey (1-3, RBI, run), Emma Greeson (2-3, run)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-The Spirits tallied eight hits in the game, including three from the top-third of the batting order, which consisted of Maleah Tate, Kayla Dick and Olivia Porter. 
-The trio of Carmey Duffey, Emma Greeson and Jelene Avila, which made up the bottom-third of the Salem lineup, managed four hits. 
-Salem retaliated in the fifth as Kiersten Nelson doubled to centerfield and was pinch run for by Lauryn Fisher. Duffey followed with a double to left, scoring Fisher, for the first Salem run of the game. 
-Greeson singled up the middle, moving Duffey to third, as Salem came through with its third straight hit. Two batters later, with Greeson at second, Maleah Tate dropped a triple to left to score the pair of Duffey and Greeson for a 5-3 William Peace lead. 
-As the Spirits attempted to rally in the seventh, Greeson reached base on a single up the middle. Tate reached base on a throwing error, moving Greeson to second. 
-Kayla Dick followed with a single to right field, loading the bases for the Spirits, before a liner to short stop halted the rally. 

Game 2: William Peace 8, Salem 0 (5 inn.)
W: Kimberly Bordeaux (7-6) / L: Carmen Duffey (1-3) 
Salem Leaders: Emma Greeson (1-2, double), Isabella Morales (1.2 IP, 3 K's)

SALEM HIGHLIGHTS
-Emma Greeson notched the only hit for the Spirits, a double, which came in the top of the third. 
-Salem reliever Isabella Morales tossed 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out three William Peace sluggers. 
-The trio of Carmen Duffey, Morales and Griffin Pearce entered the pitching circle for the Spirits. 

>ON THING CERTAIN…THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
Baserunners from the first 16 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 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 in her career. 

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 two more than Ivy Ray (Greensboro) and three 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 95 games of her Salem career, Tate has swiped 68 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 85 innings in the circle in 2025, has made 18 appearances and 15 starts for the Spirits. Along the way, Dennis has fanned a team-high 75 opposing hitters, which places her second in the USA South. Dennis ranks third in the league in strikeouts behind the combination of Lillie Davis (Meredith), who has 94 K's to her credit, and Kimberly Bordeaux of William Peace, who has struck out 86 batters. 

Dennis has the eighth-most single-season strikeouts in Salem history and is two 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 (.370) and NeVaeha George (.303), boast better than a .300 batting average heading into the games versus Greensboro. Tate leads all Salem sluggers with 30 hits, which came on the first triple of her collegiate career. Meanwhile, George is second with 23 hits and Kayla Dick, who is hitting .286 on the season, is third with 22 hits. 
-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 .433 on-base percentage and a .395 slugging percentage. 
-Entering this weekend, Salem has 38 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 and Carmen Duffey, who have five apiece. Olivia Porter and Kayla Dick are tied for fourth-most doubles with four apiece. 
-The Spirits have surpassed the number of triples as a team (eight) 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 126 strikeouts. The 2025 pitching staff tied the 2013 unit for fifth-most K's in a single season in program history. The 2025 team needs 30 to equal the 2014 squad for fourth-most K's with 156. The most single-season K's came in 2018, when Salem fanned 196 batters, a feat that was replicated in 2019. 
While Riley Dennis has the most of any individual with 75, Salem has also gotten 21 strikeouts from Isabella Morales and 24 from Carmen Duffey. 

>SCOUTING REPORT: GREENSBORO 
All-Time Series Record vs. Greensboro: Series tied 9-9. 

The two teams have each won nine games in the head-to-head series, but it is Greensboro that has enjoyed the most recent success, winning six straight in the series since 2022. 

The Spirits enjoyed a five-game winning streak of their own in the series, which stretched from March 25, 2017 to April 3, 2019. 

The Pride enter the weekend boasting a 23-9 overall record and are 8-2 in USA South Conference play. It marks the sixth time in the last seven season, 2020's COVID-shortened season, that Greensboro has won at least 20 games. 

Greensboro has won five of its last six games, suffering only a 3-2 setback at N.C. Wesleyan on April 6th, in that span. The Pride swept Southern Virginia in Greensboro on Wednesday by scores of 9-8 and 9-1. 

The leading slugger for Greensboro is Ivy Ray, who is boasting a .442 batting average with a team-best 50 hits. Ray, who has appeared in all 32 contests, has scored 39 runs, connected on 10 triples and has a .646 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage. 

Raina Hampel (10-4) is the leader of the Greensboro pitching staff with a 3.00 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched. Hampel has fanned 33 opposing hitters, while allowing just 21 extra-base hits. Teammate Ella Ebert leads the way in K's with 40, while Anna Frazier has 26 to her credit.