If the Scotland softball team’s battles with Lumberton and Richmond next week are its final exams this season, then Friday evening was a mere take-home test.

The Lady Scots blew a 4-0 game open with 13 runs in the second inning to pick up their first Southeastern Conference win over Hoke (3-7, 0-1 SEC), 17-0, in five innings.

"It feels good to get that first conference game out of the way and come out of it with a win," said Scotland coach Patrick Williams. "I thought the girls did a good job out there, but we need to keep our focus because of the two tough games that we have in conference this week. I just wanted to make sure that with this game, we didn't create any bad habits and wanted the girls to stay sharp."

Each Lady Scot had two at-bats during the big inning with Shae Barnes collecting a pair of RBI singles.

The big hits in the inning came on RBI doubles from Whitney Britt and Lauren Medlin with Cori Newton picking up a two-run double to provide the final runs of the ball game.

Despite not scoring any runs in the third inning, Taylor Hale just missed a home run when she crushed a double to dead centerfield.

Brittany Gibson paced Scotland (8-1, 1-0 SEC) in the hit parade with a 2-for-3 day and a pair of stolen bases.

Britt finished 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and two walks.

Barnes and Hale went 2-for-2 and 1-for-1 respectively for the Lady Scots.

Newtown improved to 2-0 inside the circle, pitching 4.2 innings of two-hit ball while walking none and striking out six.

Before the game with the Lady Pirates on Tuesday, Scotland will host a “Pink Zone” game to promote breast cancer awareness against Union Pines. Jayvee’s will start at 5 p.m. with Varsity to follow around 7 p.m.