Box Score HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – One of the nation's top offenses got the better of one of the country's best pitchers Tuesday, as the ninth-ranked University of South Carolina Beaufort softball team smacked two home runs and topped No. 15 Spring Hill (Ala.) to advance to the championship game of the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round USC Beaufort Bracket at Richard Gray Sports Complex.

CJ Browder and Mariaha Sanborn homered against Spring Hill ace Caroline Sagrera (32-9) to power the No. 1 seed Sand Sharks (43-4), who are the only remaining undefeated team in the double-elimination tournament. USCB will face the winner of Tuesday night's game between Spring Hill and the Cumberland (Tenn.)-Virginia Intermont winner on Wednesday, and the challenger will have to beat the Sand Sharks twice to advance to the NAIA National Championship.

Sagrera was tagged for six runs – matching her season high – on seven hits in a six-inning complete game. She walked four and struck out seven, and she was hurt by four errors, which led to three unearned runs.

The Badgers (42-15) took an early lead on Mariha Partman's solo homer in the first, but USCB answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. Spring Hill's Sam Leach homered in the second to tie it, and the Badgers moved in front in the third on Taylor Lahasky's two-run single.

Sophomore Kristy Cook (22-0) came on in relief with two outs in the third and held the Badgers without a baserunner the rest of the way, retiring all 13 batters she faced with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 perfect innings.

The Sand Sharks stole a run in the third, when Browder reached on an error, stole second and third and scored on a throwing error, cutting it to 4-3. Browder led off the fifth with a solo blast to left to tie it, and Sanborn followed later in the inning with a two-run shot to center.