Story Courtesy Appalachian State sports information
Appalachian State 6, James Madison 1
Appalachian State 6, North Carolina A&T 0
ELON, NC - Freshman Kayla Richardson threw a one-hit shutout to lead Appalachian State University softball to a 6-0 victory over North Carolina A&T to clinch the Phoenix Classic title. Richardson’s near-perfect outing extended ASU’s winning streak to a school-record five games.
Richardson struck out eight of the 22 batters she faced in the complete-game win. Appalachian advanced to the championship game by virtue of defeating James Madison, 6-1, in the morning game. Junior Keri Blackwelder got the complete-game win and helped her cause at the plate with a two-run home run.
Lindsay Glover continued to give pitchers fits, going 3-for-7 on Sunday. The junior third baseman was 10-for-16 in the five-game tournament.
Freshman Ashley Gaston went 3-for-6 on Sunday with an RBI while catcher Kristyn Hurt was 4-for-6 with two RBI. Appalachian’s 5-0 trip to Elon evened the squad’s record at 8-8 on the young season.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 1, North Florida 0
Tennessee Tech 5, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, TN - The softball team used a walk-off home run from Brittney Whittier to defeat North Florida 1-0 Sunday and finished the 2006 Frost Cutlery Classic with a 5-1 record.
The tournament concluded with a 5-1 loss to Tennessee Tech in the finale.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in the win over UNF, Whittier snapped a scoreless tie with her second home run of the season which easily cleared the wall over left-centerfield.
The blast spoiled the outing for Ospreys' pitcher Tori Ahern who took the loss despite limiting the Lady Mocs to their lone run on five hits. She struck out three and walked two.
JayCee Wood improved her record to 8-5, turning in a seven-inning shutout on five hits, four strikeouts and three walks.
UTC, 11-12, also had hits from Jeannie Cochrane, Ashley Cuticchia, Ashleigh Bull and Tara Tembey.
In the nightcap, UTC committed five errors and allowed only one earned run in the 5-1 loss to Tennessee Tech.
The Golden Eagles Struck for three first-inning runs on a hit and two UTC errors.
The Lady Mocs cut the lead to 3-1 in the second on a bases-loaded single by Robyn Johnson. Tech added another unearned run in the fifth and scored its final run on an RBI single by Ashley Potts in the seventh.
Bonnie Bynum picked up the win scattering three hits and two walks over seven innings and holding UTC to just one run.
Wood came on in relief of starter Ashley Frizzell with one out in the first inning. Would gave up two unearned runs on three hits. She walked one and fanned one.
Whittier and Alyssa Edwards had hits for the Lady Mocs.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 10, Texas Southern 0
COLLEGE STATION, TX - Jennifer Golden went three-for three from the plate with three runs batted in and a home run as the College of Charleston defeated Texas Southern 10-0 at the 2006 Texas A&M Invitational.
The Cougars improve to 12-8 on the season with pitcher Shannon Howard evening her record at 6-6 with the victory. Texas Southern falls to 1-16 on the year.
Charleston earned a run in the top of the first and third innings before adding eight runs in the top of the fifth, sixth and seventh inning. All in all the Cougars scored 10 runs on eight hits while committing one error on the day.
Texas Southern had four hits committing four errors in the loss.
Another bright spot for the Cougars was catcher Jayme Durand. Durand went 2-3 at the plate with two runs batted in and two walks. Durand currently leads the team in RBI’s with 20 on the season and Golden leads CofC in homers with seven.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
Iowa State 4, UNC Greensboro 2
SUMMERVILLE, SC ? The UNC Greensboro softball team lost 4-2 to top-seeded Iowa State on Sunday in the final day of the Charleston Southern Tournament at Gahagan Park. The eighth-seeded Spartans finish the tournament with a 3-3 record.
The Cyclones (8-6) struck first with four unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning. UNCG nearly worked around a lead-off error when left fielder Krista Judge threw out a runner at the plate for the second out of the frame, but Katie Reichling followed with a run scoring single up the middle. Two batters later, Beth Tharp plated another runner with a double down the left field line. After a walk, Jennifer Bigbee doubled over the head of Judge to score two more to make it a 4-0 game.
Senior center fielder Gwen Johnson almost single handedly tied the game up for UNCG. She blasted a two-run home run to left in the fourth to cut the Spartans deficit in half. After junior Jennifer Bonilla singled, Johnson came to the dish as the tying run in the sixth and lined a shot off the top of the fence in left center for a double. With runners on second and third, freshman Stephanie Talarek flew out to center to end the threat.
Iowa State tried to tack on an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth, but a beautiful relay by right fielder Heather Branche and second baseman Adriane Audley gunned down pinch-runner Whitney Perkins at the plate. Perkins was attempting to score from first on a double to the gap by Jessica Quade.
UNCG starter Hannah Angel (2-4) was the tough luck loser after allowing four unearned runs in the first inning. Junior righty Vanessa Oakes finished up for the Spartans and allowed only three hits and struck out seven hitters in 5.0 innings of dominant work.
Amie Ford posted the complete game victory for the Cyclones. She allowed two runs on five hits and struck out 10 hitters.
Story Courtesy Elon sports information
North Carolina A&T 3, Elon 1
BURLINGTON, NC - The Elon University softball team finished the Elon Phoenix Classic with a 3-1 record after falling to North Carolina A&T on Sunday afternoon in the seeded portion of the tournament at Burlington Springwood Park. Elon (10-5) entered Sunday's play with a perfect 3-0 record in the tournament.
North Carolina A&T got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. With runners on first and second base, Latronda Anderson doubled to plate Tabitha Veney and put the Lady Aggies ahead 1-0. North Carolina A&T put another run up in the bottom of the fourth inning when a single from Adia Dial scored Sylvia Felder. The Lady Aggies notched their third run in the bottom of the fifth when a singled to right centerfield from Jekesha Herring scored Anderson to put NCA&T ahead 3-0.
Elon put a run on the board in the top of the sixth inning. With runners on first and second, Jaimie Rao doubled down the right field line to score Brandi Jones to cut the lead to two at 3-1. But the Elon threat was not enough as the Lady Aggies earned a 3-1 win.
Anderson (3-2) posted the win for North Carolina A&T after throwing a complete game and giving up only one run (no earned runs) on 10 hits and striking out two batters. Samantha Schroeder (4-2) suffered the loss for Elon after tossing 4.2 innings and giving up three runs on nine hits while retiring two batters. Whitney Meeks threw 1.1 innings in relief and gave up no runs on one hit while striking out two batters.
Rao and Rebecca Rijavec led Elon from the play, each going two-for-three while Rao recorded Elon's RBI. Herring led the Lady Aggies' offense, going three-for-three from the plate with one RBI while Dial also recorded three hits.
On Saturday, Elon tallied two wins ? a 8-0 victory over James Madison and a 9-5 win against North Carolina A&T.
In the first game, Elon started the scoring early, posting a run in the top of the first inning when a single from Debbie Zeigler scored Paige Goss to put Elon up 1-0.
The Phoenix added five runs in the top of the third inning. With runners on second and third, Laurin Smith singled to score Tracey Dahlen and Goss and give Elon a 3-0 lead. The next batter, Brandi Jones, knocked a homerun to score two more runs and extend the lead to 5-0. A Patti Weber single then scored Rijavec to put Elon ahead 6-0.
Elon added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, Goss reached on a field error by the James Madison third baseman, scoring Rijavec and Jones for the 8-0 win.
Carol Lilley (2-3) notched the win for Elon after throwing a complete game and giving up no runs on three hits while striking out five and only facing 23 batters. Meredith Felts (1-2) suffered the loss for the Dukes after tossiing seven innings and giving up eight runs (no earned runs) on 14 hits and striking out one batter.
Rijavec led Elon from the plate, going three-for-four while Goss, Zeigler, Jones, Rao and Weber all recorded multiple hits. Megan Smith, Krista Landing and Julia Dominguez all posted hits for James Madison.
In the second game on Saturday, North Carolina A&T started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. With a runner on second, Christina Brock singled and advanced to second on a throwing error while Adia Dial crossed home plate to put the Lady Aggies up 1-0.
Elon put up four runs in the top of the second inning to take the lead. A single by Erica Ayala scored Smith and Rijavec to put Elon ahead 2-1. Then, on a single from Weber, Ayala advanced to third and scored on a fielding error by the NC A&T centerfielder to give Elon a 3-1 lead. A single by Goss plated Nicole Ellis and gave Elon a 4-1 advantage.
In the top of the third, Jones knocked a two-run homer to put Elon ahead 6-1 before a triple by Weber scored Rijavec and gave the Phoenix a 7-1 lead. A single from Jones scored Dahlen in the top of the fourth inning to put Elon up 8-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, a single from Dial scored Herring to cut the lead to 8-2. Then, with the bases loaded, Anderson doubled to left field to score Brock, Dial and Renecia Lovelace to cut the lead to three at 8-5.
Elon added another run in the top of the seventh when a sacrifice fly by Ayala scored Jones to give Elon the 9-5 victory.
Meeks (4-0) earned the win for Elon after hurling a complete game and giving up five runs (four earned) on nine hits and striking out four batters. Anderson suffered the loss for the Lady Aggies after tossing seven innings and giving up nine runs (five earned) on 14 hits while striking out two.
Jones went three-for-four with three RBI and two runs scored to lead Elon from the plate while Goss, Rijavec, Ayala and Weber each recorded two hits. Dial led the Lady Aggies from the plate, going three-for-four with one RBI and two runs scored.
On Friday, the Phoenix earned a 15-0 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore in five innings. In the bottom of the first inning, with the two runners on, Zeigler knocked a three-run homer to put Elon ahead 3-0. Smith followed with a solo homerun as did Jones to give Elon a 5-0 lead.
Elon added three runs in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Jones led off with her second homerun of the day before Rao blasted a two-run homer.
Schroeder posted the win for Elon giving up no runs and only one hit while striking out eight batters. Kristen Greenwood (0-1) suffered the loss for UMES after throwing four innings and giving up 15 runs on 18 hits.
Zeigler led Elon from the plate, going four-for-four with six RBI while Jones was two-for-three with three RBI and two runs scored and Rijavec was three-for-three.