Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Furman 5-9, Appalachian State 1-5
GREENVILLE, SC - Freshmen Amber Kiser and Stephanie Cushing each recorded three hits to help Furman rally from a 3-1 deficit and down Appalachian State 9-5 to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Mountaineers in the Southern Conference Softball opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. Furman topped Appalachian 5-1 in game one.
With Furman (17-15, 2-0 SoCon) trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth of game two, Kiser reached on a chopper to the pitcher with one out. Joni Lockridge followed with a double to left-center to plate Kiser and moved to third on the throw to the plate. Cushing knotted the game at 3-3 singling through the left side to drive in Lockridge.
Appalachian State starter Kayla Richardson reentered the game in the circle and was greeted by a Megan Jaudon RBI double to give Furman a 4-3 lead. After Jaudon was cut down at the plate on Amber Nelsen's fielder's choice and Danielle Franklin reached on a walk, Lynn Parmer laced an RBI single through the right side to cap the scoring.
Appalachian (11-15, 0-2 SoCon) trimmed the lead to one with a Lindsay Glover single in the top of the sixth, but Furman answered with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Jessica Mathis drew a leadoff walk and Kiser reached on a bunt single. Lockridge lined a single up the middle to score Mathis and Kiser crossed the plate on a throwing error. Cushing continued the rally with a triple down the right field line to drive in Lockridge. After Teri Fister entered the game and retired two batters, Parmer singled to second to cap the scoring.
Kiser tallied three runs for the Lady Paladins while Cushing drove in three runs. Lockridge, Jaudon and Parmer each collected two hits. Mathis (3-3) earned the win while allowing two runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of relief.
Glover and Ashley Gaston notched three hits for the Mountaineers while Brittany Gaston, Stephanie Long and Kasey Motsinger tallied two safeties each. Reliever Keri Blackwelder (3-6) took her second loss of the day for Appalachian. Blackwelder allowed three runs on three hits in one inning in the circle.
In Friday's first game, freshman Vanessa Williams (8-5) hurled seven innings allowing only one run while striking out three to lead Furman to a 5-1 victory.
Ashley Gaston put the Mountaineers ahead in the second reaching on a walk and scoring on Kristyn Hurt's two-out, RBI single.
Furman fired back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Franklin led off the frame with an infield single and moved to third when Glover threw wide off first while attempting to retire Abby Robertson on a sacrifice bunt. Fister entered the game in relief of Blackwelder and surrendered a run scoring single to center off of the bat of Mathis. Following a bunt single from Kiser, Lockridge forced in a run drawing a bases loaded walk. Cushing upped the lead to 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Nelsen added the first of two insurance runs in the sixth by opening the inning with a solo homer to left-center, her sixth of the season. Mathis singled to score Robertson for the final 5-1 margin with two outs in the inning.
Kiser and Mathis collected two hits each for Furman. Blackwelder suffered the loss after allowing just one earned run in 4.1 innings.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 3, Michigan State 2
BOCA RATON, FL - Carrey Cooper hit her first collegiate homerun to lift Chattanooga to a 3-2 win over Michigan State Friday on Day One of the Florida Atlantic Parent's Weekend Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla.
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Cooper took L. Noel deep on a first pitch swing for the game winner. Cooper went 2-for-3 on the day with one RBI and scored two runs.
Chattanooga took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on three hits and a Spartan error. A trio of singles from Cooper, Jeannie Cochran and Ashley Cuticchia resulted in UTC's first run. Michigan State lifted starter Hair in favor of Noel and Cochran scored on a fielder's choice to put the Lady Mocs up 2-0.
Michigan State tied it up in the top of the sixth on two hits and an error. With two runners on Mahoney hit a sac bunt to score a runner and the Lady Mocs doubled up Weigle for two outs.
Starter JayCee Wood gave up a pair of walks and a single to load the bases and Ashley Frizzell entered the game. She gave up a walk to tie the game and then forced the next batter to ground out to second ending the inning with three runners stranded.
The Spartans stranded 11 runners and Chattanooga left six on the bags. Frizzell picked up her eighth win of the season and Chattanooga evened its record at 17-17.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
DELAND, FL - The Georgia Southern softball team pounded out a 6-1 win over Stetson but was edged 2-1 in eight innings by Boston University in the first day of the Stetson Tournament Friday afternoon in DeLand, Fla.
Day two of the tournament for GSU begins tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. when the Eagles face Cornell, preceding another 3 p.m. duel with Stetson.
Boston University 2, Georgia Southern 1 (8 innings)
Shayne Lotito’s infield single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning pushed Boston University over GSU in a game dominated by pitching.
BU (4-5) put a run across in the first when Lotito led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. With two away, she moved to third on an illegal pitch and scored on an infield single.
Georgia Southern answered with a run in the third. Senior Shanita Black (Fayetteville, N.C.) started with a single and took second on a BU error. Black advanced to third on a flyout and senior Gina Sterchi’s (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 12th double tied the game at 1-1.
Neither team was able to manufacture any more runs until the international tiebreaker rule in the eighth. In the top of the extra frame, junior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) began the inning on second but didn’t move as the Eagles popped up and struck out twice.
In the bottom half, Boston University pinch runner Melody Poprovak was moved to third on a sacrifice but GSU starter Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) retired pinch-hitter Chiya Louie on a pop-up. Lotito ended the contest by beating out a slow grounder to short.
The Terriers’ Brittany Detwiler struck out eight and allowed no earned runs to improve to 2-3. Laliberte struck out six and gave up just three hits, and falls to 4-5.
Georgia Southern 6, Stetson 1
The Eagles compiled all six runs in the first two innings, batting around each time, and was keyed by a three-run homer by Sterchi.
In the opening frame, Smith singled with one out and moved to third when junior Aurora Johnson’s (Macon, Ga.) sacrifice attempt was booted. Sterchi chased Stetson (17-5) starter Heather Colding with a round-tripper to left to put GSU up 3-0. The Eagles missed an opportunity to score more by leaving the bases loaded.
In the second, Black laced a triple down the left field line and crossed the plate on a double by Smith. Two more runners scored when a Sterchi single was booted by the Hatter right fielder.
Junior A.J. Street (Lilburn, Ga.) was effectively wild, allowing just one run on five hits and five walks to move to 3-6. Colding drops to 3-5.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 4, UNCW 1
CULLOWHEE, NC - Freshman Jenny Jackson tossed a complete game three hitter in the circle and went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate, driving in all four Catamount runs to lead Western Carolina over UNC Wilmington, 4-1, in the night cap of the 2006 Best Western Catamount Classic Friday night. In other tournament action, UNCW opened play with a 10-2 win over Alabama A&M in six innings, with A&M also falling to Charleston Southern in six, 13-4.
With Western (16-9) facing the Seahawks for the third time this season, Jackson scattered three hits over seven innings while only allowing the single run. The right-handed hurler struck out six and walked just two in securing her sixth victory of the season. Offensively, Jackson was responsible for all four Catamount runs.
After two and a half scoreless innings, Western broke through first in the home half of the third. Second baseman Samm Keppel was first-pitch swinging, laying down a single along the infield. The next batter, freshman Allyson McCubbins worked the count to draw the walk, moving Keppel to second. Sophomore Heather Pritchard then laid down a perfect bunt for a single to load the bases with no outs. Three batters later, Jackson delivered a two out double to center field to clear the bases and give WCU the 3-0 lead.
Two innings later, in the bottom of the fifth, Jackson belted a one out solo home run over the right center field fence to push the Catamount advantage to four, 4-0.
Down to its final three outs, UNC Wilmington (16-14) stirred up some offense in the top of the seventh inning. Jennifer Bosley, who was the pitcher of record for the Seahawks before being pulled in the fifth inning, dropped a single on the WCU infield between first and second, just out of reach of Keppel and Catamount first baseman, Lauren Ross. UNCW's Charla Wacker pinch ran for Bosley and would later score on a two out double to center field. But that was all the `Hawks could muster as second baseman Hayley House fouled out to Ross to end the game.
Pritchard finished 2-for-3 on the day, with Keppel duplicating her performance at the plate and each scoring a run.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Florida International 9, Elon 1
TAMPA, FL - Florida International used two four-run innings to down Elon 9-1 in five innings in the opening game of the USF Speed Line Invitational hosted by South Florida on Friday morning.
FIU (11-17) put up four runs in the bottom of the first inning to start the scoring. With runners on second and third, Tabitha Embry doubled to right centerfield to push two runs across the plate and five the Golden Panthers a 2-0 lead. After Elon pitcher Carol Lilley struck out two batters, Samantha Card doubled with two runners on base to give FIU a 4-0 advantage.
Elon (11-7) responded with a run in the top of the second. Rebecca Rijavec earned a walked before Laurin Smith doubled to left centerfield to score Rijavec and cut the lead to three, 4-1.
FIU added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Desiree Fink scored on a throwing error that allowed her to advance from third base before Deomni Murray scored on a wild pitch to put FIU up 6-1. Kim Rodriguez doubled to left centerfield to score Cassie Parker before Ashley Falk knocked a sacrifice fly to score Rodriguez and go ahead 8-1.
The Golden Panthers added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to go ahead 9-1 and end the game.
Penny Eastman (6-4) picked up the win for FIU after hurling five innings and giving up one run on three hits and striking out six. Lilley (2-5) suffered the loss for Elon after throwing 3.2 innings and giving up eight runs (three earned) on seven hits and striking out five.
Murray, Card and Tracey Deleon led FIU from the plate with two hits each while Embry and Card each posed two RBI. Rijavec, Smith and Ellis recorded a hit each for the Phoenix.