FLORENCE, Ala.—University of Southern Indiana Softball scored six unanswered runs to complete a double-header sweep of defending NCAA Division II champion and No. 1-ranked University of North Alabama in its 2017 season-opener Tuesday afternoon.
 
USI (2-0) earned a 3-0 victory in the game one before taking the nightcap, 6-1.
 
Game 1: USI 3, UNA 0
Freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout in her collegiate debut as the Screaming Eagles opened the season with a 3-0 win over North Alabama.
 
Junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) had an RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning to give USI a 1-0 lead; then junior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana) hit a two-run home run in the seventh frame to put the Eagles up 3-0.
 
Leonhardt (1-0) fanned six batters and retired the side three times to earn the victory. She issued just one walk and one hit batter. Both Fossett and Fulton went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Eagles' offense.
 
Game 2: USI 6, UNA 1
USI rallied from a one-run deficit to complete the two-game sweep with a 6-1 victory over the Lions. Fulton tied the game with an RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning, while senior shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) had an RBI-single to open up a four-run fifth inning for the Eagles.
 
Senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana), who was 3-of-4 at the plate in game two, followed Reese's hit with a two-out, two-run single to put USI up 4-1. Fossett finished the scoring in the next at-bat with a single to drive in Hodges.
 
The Eagles took advantage of a North Alabama error to add their final tally in the sixth inning.
 
Sophomore hurler Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) picked up the complete-game victory as she surrendered just one run off four hits in seven innings of work. Atkisson (1-0) had a strikeout and issued just one walk in her season debut.
 
North Alabama saw its six-game winning streak come to a close as it fell to 8-4 on the year.
 
USI returns to action February 24 when it takes on Trevecca Nazarene University and Ferris State University in the Midwest Region Crossover at Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville.