Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Furman 4, Rutgers 3
Northern Colorado 7, Furman 2
SUMMERVILLE, SC - Furman rallied from a three-run deficit in the seventh to force extra innings and Blake Murray laced a game-winning single to right field in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Lady Paladins to a 4-3 victory over Rutgers at the Charleston Southern Softball Invitational Friday afternoon.
With the Lady Paladins down 3-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, Murray started the frame with a single up the middle. After Murray moved to third on a wild pitch and a groundout, Amber Kiser cut the margin to 3-1 with an infield single. Joni Lockridge moved Kiser to second with a ground ball to shortstop. Stephanie Cushing followed with a RBI double to left-center scoring Kiser and bringing Furman within a run.
Rutgers turned to Nicole Freeman in relief of starting pitcher Christina Gillman. After Freeman walked Danielle Franklin, Amber Nelsen lined a single to left to score Cushing and knot the game at 3-3.
With a runner on second in the eighth via the international tiebreaker, Lady Paladin starter Vanessa Williams got the first two Scarlet Knights to foul out before Amanda Heller lined out to right to retire the side.
Third baseman Abby Robertson advanced pinch runner Lyndy Wilcox to third with a sacrifice bunt to start the bottohalf of the inning. Murray followed by slapping a Freeman pitch over the rightfielder's head to give Furman the 4-3 win.
Williams tossed eight innings allowing just one earned run on three hits to improve to 4-3 on the season. The freshman righthander struck out three and walked two. Murray led Furman going 3-for-4 at the plate while Cushing and Nelsen each collected two hits.
Freeman suffered the lossf for Rutgers allowing one unearned run in two-thirds of an inning.
In game two, Northern Colorado exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to down Furman 7-2.
Casey Hogue went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two runs scored to lead the Bears. Jessica Milligan tossed a complete game and surrendered just two runs on four hits while striking out six to earn the win.
Murray suffered the loss the the Lady Paladins after giving up one earned run in three innings of work. Murray, 1-5 on the season, issued three walks and hit one batter in the loss.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 2, Middle Tennessee 1
Chattanooga 2, Bradley 0
CHATTANOOGA, TN - UTC went two-for-two on the first day of the Frost Cutlery Softball Classic.
The Lady Mocs edged Middle Tennessee 2-1 in their first outing and blanked Bradley 2-0 in the second.
In the nightcap, UTC pitcher Ashley Frizzell tossed a two-hitter, and Tara Tembey laced a two-run single in the sixth inning as UTC shut out Bradley.
Neither team dented the scoreboard until UTC’s half of the sixth inning. Jeannie Cochran reached on an error, and Ashley Cuticchia walked. A strikeout and a groundout moved the runners up a base. Tembey’s single to right field plated the two baserunners and provided the game’s only scoring.
Frizzell improved her record to 3-6. She went the distance, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five. Rebecca Bishop took the loss for the Braves, allowing the two runs with four hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
Tembey had two hits for the Lady Mocs (9-11), while Ashleigh Bull and Brittney Whittier added one apiece.
In the first game, UTC bounced back from a Wednesday loss at Middle Tennessee to defeat the Blue Raiders.
JayCee Wood (6-5) limited MTSU to one run on six hits. She struck out six and walked four.
The Lady Mocs got all the offense they would need in the fifth inning. Cuticchia scored on an RBI groundout by Ashlan Clarkson, and Alyssa Edwards scored on a wild pitch.
The Blue Raiders trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth on an RBI infield single by Jennifer Wilkes.
Laura Moore suffered the loss, allowing the two runs on four hits and three walks in the first 4 1/3 innings.
Also reaching base via the hit for UTC were Bull, Edwards, Tembey, Toni Hutchinson, Whittier and Amanda Hoiness.
Story Courtesy Appalachian State sports information
Appalachian State 4, North Carolina A&T 1
ELON, NC - Junior Keri Blackwelder struck out 11 North Carolina A&T batters and allowed just one hit as the Appalachian State University softball team won its opening game at the Elon Phoenix Classic, 4-1, Friday afternoon.
Junior Lindsay Glover provided nearly all of Appalachian’s offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and all four RBI on the afternoon. Appalachian got one run in the first inning when Glover’s drove in freshman Brittany Gaston. The Mountaineers sealed their fourth victory of the season with a three-run seventh inning.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 4, UNC Wilmington 2
UNC Greensboro 6, Oakland 5
SUMMERVILLE, SC ? The UNC Greensboro softball team won both of its games in first day action at the Charleston Southern Tournament on Friday evening at Gahagan Park. The Spartans began the day with a 4-2 win over in-state rival UNC Wilmington, before holding on for a 6-5 victory over Oakland University.
Junior Vanessa Oakes went the distance against the Seahawks in picking up her second straight victory and in the process, evening her season record at 2-2.
Senior Kelly Allen went 2-for-2 with an RBI, while freshmen Lyndsay Mouse and Leslie Furness each went 2-for-3 in the game one victory. Mouse had a single and double, while Furness had a single and double with an RBI.
In the second game, senior Danielle Byrne started and went the first 5.0 innings to pick up her first win of the season and give UNCG its fourth straight win overall. Oakes pitched the final two innings to garner her first save of the year and third of her career.
Junior Adriane Audley was 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run and three RBI. Junior Jennifer Bonilla had three singles and an RBI, while Mouse was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 3, Brown 2
Western Carolina 15, Northern Colorado 8
SUMMERVILLE, SC - Western Carolina rallied twice on Friday to win its first two games of the Charleston Southern Spring Tournament, defeating the Brown Bears, 3-2, and then pounded out 14 hits to rally past the Northern Colorado Bears, 15-8. The wins pushed WCU's current winning streak to four and improved its record to 9-3 on the season.
Freshman pitcher Mendy McKenzie went the distance in game one only allowing two runs on four hits while striking out 10 and walking three, one intentionally. Her classmate, Jenny Jackson, was credited with the victory in game two after Savannah Filley earned the starting nod. Filley threw two complete innings before being lifted by Jackson in the third. The latter hurler tossed four innings, surrendering two runs on three hits while striking out three to earn her third victory of the season. McKenzie threw the final inning, striking out one and inducing two ground balls to end conclude the second game.
Western took the early 1-0 lead in the first game against Brown after sophomore Heather Pritchard reached with a two-base slap to the right side of the infield. Freshman Allyson McCubbins laid down a bunt single, advancing Pritchard to third. She would later score on yet another bunt single by freshman Stephanie Beatty.
In the fourth, Brown plated two runs to take the 2-1 lead which they would hold until the sixth when WCU rallied. Junior Nikki Bost reached on an error and scored when McCubbins belted a two-run home run over the left center fence, pushing the Catamounts ahead for good, 3-2.
Against Northern Colorado, Western again took an early lead, plating a single run in the bottom of the first inning as Beatty, who reached on an error by the first baseman, scored on an error at shortstop which was hit by freshman Lauren Ross.
The Bears rallied, however, scoring six in the top of the third and two in the top of the fourth to pull ahead, 8-1. In the visitor half of the third, Northern Colorado recorded five hits including a two RBI double and a three-run home run to left center to record the six spot. The Bears two runs in the top of the fourth came off a two-run homer to right center for the seven-run lead.
Western began to chip away at the deficit in the home half of the fourth as Pritchard doubled through the left side and moved to third on a Samm Keppel ground out. McCubbins singled to left to score Pritchard and cut the margin to six, 8-2. An inning later, the Catamounts made school history, belting back-to-back-to-back home runs to slice the UNC lead to three, 8-5. Filley homered to left center while Ross delivered the long ball to right and junior Ashley Adams also hit one to left center
In the home half of the sixth inning, Western broke the game open, completing the rally and pulling ahead by scoring 10 runs on eight hits in the frame. Every WCU player in the lineup scored in the inning, with McCubbins scoring twice. With Keppel leading off the inning, Western batted around completely before the first out in the inning was recorded when Keppel struck out looking.
McKenzie, in just her second relief appearance, sat the Bears down in order in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
ATLANTA, GA - The Georgia Southern softball team went 1-1 in the first day of the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic. The Eagles lost the first game 8-7 to Miami (Ohio) on a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning and outslugged Gardner-Webb 16-7 in the nightcap.
Miami (Ohio) 8, Georgia Southern 7
GSU led 6-0 and 7-1 before Miami rallied for seven unanswered runs, completing the rally in the seventh.
The Eagles put six runs on the board in the second inning, thanks to a three-run homer by freshman Carrie Mixon (Statesboro, Ga.) and RBI singles by juniors Aurora Johnson (Macon, Ga.) and Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.).
Miami answered with a run in its half of the second, but in the third Mixon went long again, depositing the first pitch of the third inning over the wall in left-center.
The RedHawks began the comeback in the fourth with a run before putting three runners across in the fifth.
In the seventh, Miami had the first two batters reach base, but GSU junior A.J. Street (Lilburn, Ga.) struck out the next two batters, bringing up Jamie Arundel. Arundel sent a 2-2 pitch out of the park, ending the game.
MU’s Kelly Cabana improves to 3-1, picking up the win in relief, while Street falls to 1-5.
Georgia Southern 16, Gardner-Webb 7
The Georgia Southern bats exploded for 11 runs in the first three innings, rallying the Eagles from deficits in innings one and two.
Gardner-Webb started the scoring early with two runs in the top of the first before GSU came back with five in the bottom half of the inning. Four different players had run-scoring hits in the inning with Mixon posting a two-RBI single.
The Bulldogs responded with four runs in the second, but once again, the Eagles went back on top with four tallies. As in the first, three batters drove in runs in the inning and Mixon drove in two with a double.
Both Mixon and senior Gina Sterchi (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recorded four RBI. Two of Sterchi’s four hits went for extra bases, including a three-run homer in the sixth. In all, six different players had RBI.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
Brigham Young 2, College of Charleston 1
Texas A&M 7, College of Charleston 0
COLLEGE STATION, TX - Brigham Young used a two out single to drive in the winning run against the College of Charleston as CofC falls to BYU 2-1 at the 2006 Texas A&M Invitational.
Charleston falls to 10-6 on the year with the loss as pitcher Amber Havnar was credited with the loss. CofC scored one run on five hits committing no errors in defeat. Brigham Young moved to 11-5 on the season with Brooke Boyce-Humbert getting her first win of the season.
Leshe Russell had one hit in three at bats driving in the lone run for CofC. BYU’s Paige Paramore was two-for-three from the plate with one run batted in.
The College of Charleston dropped its second game in a row at the Texas A&M Invitational falling to the host Aggies 7-1 Friday in game four of the tournament.
The Cougars fall to 10-7 on the season as pitcher Shannon Howard (5-5) was credited with the loss. Texas A&M improves to 13-7 on the year with Megan Gibson (7-2) earning the win.
Jayme Durand drove in the Cougars only run with a single in the sixth to score Shondra Schlichenmayer. Durand was one-for-three on the day. CofC scored one run on four hits committing two errors in the game.
Texas A&M scored seven runs on six hits committing one error in the victory.