DeLAND, Fla. – Amidst all the attention that the Presbyterian College softball team – and by extension, the electric Blue Hose bullpen – has garnered over the first two weeks of the 2023 season and rightfully so, it doesn't seem that their ultra-dependable D is showing any signs of slowing down if Friday's result on a neutral field is to be believed. Behind their sixth shutout already of the semester, PC silenced Cornell at the Stetson Invitational by a 2-0 count to improve a never-before-seen record to a mark of 11-0.

A figure only matched by 18^th-ranked Kentucky and defending national champion preseason favorite Oklahoma, Presbyterian's sixth performance without a single score allowed brings their ravenous defense to elite heights. Penciled in for her second career start, freshman Peyton Duncan remained at the forefront of another sensational showing all around by an error-less defense, knocking Cornell back for 14 straight at-bats before giving up a hit on her way to seven K's while never leaving the circle.

Morgan Hess' two-run jack in the bottom of the 1^st was all that the Blue Hose needed in order to tally the W, which extends the greatest start to a season in the two-decade history of the program. One of eight undefeated schools in the country at the start of the day, head coach David Williams' squad lined up its ninth complete game on Friday with a rookie running the show, coming eerily close to Duncan's eight-K shutout of IUPUI just six days back in her only other starting nod.
 
NOTABLES
- Wasting no time in putting the scoreboard operator to work, senior catcher Lath Freeman set the stage for Hess' homer in the game's third at-bat, drilling a two-out single to reach her fifth consecutive contest notching at least one hit. Hess did the rest from there, booming the team's eighth longball and her third of the year to lead all players.

- Effectively shaking off a bit of a slow start as the de facto #2 hitter in the Blue Hose order, junior second-baseman Kaitlyn Tucker has erupted for six hits over her past three appearances including a pair more in the Cornell win. She added a stolen base to her stat line on Friday, keeping PC's perfect ratio intact at 18-for-18.

- One of four Division I schools able to claim 10 wins or more next to no losses (with the other three teams in that company all within the nation's top 15), Presbyterian's dynamite bullpen has reached a combined ERA of 1.00 on the nose next to their flawless record. 280 total batters have only been able to muster a .182 average against the Duncan, Hess, and Jenna Greene trio, trudging through the team's 11^th consecutive game with zero homers from the other side.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The 2023 season opener for the northeastern travelers, Cornell starter Gabrielle Maday turned in an equally-strong showing opposite Duncan minus the opening-inning slip up (six strikeouts, six hits allowed). PC ended the 3^rd and 4^th stanzas with an added four runners left stranded thanks to Maday's bend-but-don't-break pitching, although the Big Red's failure to get anything by the Blue Hose newbie ended up costing them the chance at the upset.

- Senior shortstop Layna Johnson represented the other extra-base swing of the contest for Presbyterian along with Hess' home run, and while the offense couldn't produce any more damage over the ensuing five frames, the lockdown D that stayed from start to finish was enough to give Williams his 89^th W since taking over the program.
 
NEXT UP
- The tournament setting in DeLand is only just revving up for PC, who will take part in four more meetings over the rest of the weekend. North Florida and the hosting Hatters will do battle with the Blue Hose on Saturday at 12:00 and 2:30 respectively, two squads that have combined for 15 wins despite Stetson's setback to Cornell later on Friday by a 2-1 clip.