Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University senior right-hander Raechel Cutcher took a perfect game into the seventh inning Thursday afternoon, leading the second-seeded and 17th-ranked Bulldogs to a 2-0 victory over seventh-seeded Francis Marion University on day one of the NCAA Division II softball Southeast Regional. Wingate improves to 45-14 on the season, advancing to Friday's winner's bracket game at 10:30 a.m. The Patriots fall to 41-12 overall and will play in an elimination game Friday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, third in the last four years and eight in program history. This is the first time the 'Dogs have won the NCAA Tourney opener since the 2014 season when Wingate downed Lenoir-Rhyne 8-0.

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-hit Francis Marion 6-1
- The Bulldogs had the lone extra-base hit of the game
- The 'Dogs left six on base; the Patriots stranded one
- Neither team committed an error
- WU pitching struck out seven without a walk; FMU had no strikeouts and two walks

KEY BULLDOGS

- Cutcher struck out seven without a walk in her one-hit shutout
- Hali Scott was one-for-three with a pair of RBI to lead the offense
- Heaven Maness had a hit and a run scored
- Ragan Liles also scored a run for the 'Dogs
- Savanna Brooks collected a double

FOURTH INNING

- Maness led off the inning with a single, then moved to second on a Liles walk
- Hannah Reeves added a one-out single to load the bases
- Scott ripped a two-run single to right, plating Maness and Liles to make it 2-0

SEVENTH INNING

- A Makayla Cuthbertson single got through the right side to start the frame and end Cutcher's perfect game effort
- Cutcher then induced a popout and flyout to shallow center
- She ended the game by inducing one final flyout to secure the win

WRAPUP

- Cutcher got the win, moving to 14-7 on the year
- The All-Region right-hander struck out seven while allowing just the seventh-inning single
- She retired the first 18 batters she faced on Thursday
- Rachel Davis took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits in six innings of work

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Friday at 10:30 on day two of the regional
- The 'Dogs will host the winner of Thursday afternoon's Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Carson-Newman contest
- The winner Friday morning's game is onto Saturday and would be a win away from advancing