Story Courtesy Elon sports information
Charlotte 3, Elon 2 (10)
Elon 4, Charlotte 1
ELON, NC ?The Charlotte softball team took a 10-inning, 3-2 win in game one before Elon downed the 49ers 4-1 in the second game of the day in non-conference action at East Field on Wednesday afternoon.
In the first game, Charlotte got on the board in the top of the first inning. Elon retired the first two batters on a strike out and a ground out before Becky Matthews reached first base on a dropped third strike. Matthews stole second base before Kristi Killough singled up the middle to score Matthews and put the 49ers ahead 1-0.
Elon knotted the score in the bottom of the seventh inning. Brandi Jones was hit by a pitch to reach first base before advancing to second on a ground out by Laurin Smith. A single from Jaimie Rao plated Jones and tied the game 1-1.
In the top of the ninth inning, with runners on second and third, Cee Brooks knocked a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Matthews and give Charlotte a 2-1 lead. But in the bottom of the inning, with a runner on third, Rao singled down the left field line to score Jones and tie the score at 2-2.
Charlotte tallied the winning run in the top of the 10th inning when a ground out by Evan Miller scored Emily Forbes to give the 49ers the 3-2 advantage.
Kristen Bowen (7-2) picked up the win for Charlotte after throwing all 10 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and striking out 12 batters. Carol Lilley (2-4) suffered the loss for Elon. She hurled 10 innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on two hits and retired seven batters.
Rao and Weber led Elon from the plate. Rao tallied two hits on four at bats with two RBI while Weber was three-for-four. Killough and Forbes each recorded hits for the 49ers.
In the second game of the day, Elon took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Paige Goss and Tracey Dahlen recorded back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before a single from Debbie Zeigler plated Goss to put Elon up 1-0. With runners on second and third, Rao singled to score Dahlen and give the Phoenix the 2-0 edge.
Charlotte (11-5) posted a run in the top of the fifth inning when Brittany Cantrell knocked a solo homer over the left field fence to cut the lead to one at 2-1.
Elon (11-6) responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Zeigler led off the inning with a homerun out of left centerfield before an error by the Charlotte second baseman scored Rao from third to give Elon a 4-1 lead.
Whitney Meeks (5-0) recorded the win for Elon after tossing a full game and giving up one run on six hits and striking out five batters. Christy Murray (1-2) suffered the loss for Charlotte after throwing five innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on 11 hits and striking out four. Jamie Wellons pitched an inning in relief and gave up no run on one hit.
Zeigler led Elon from the plate, going four-for-four with two RBI while Rao was two-for-four with one RBI. Matthews led the 49ers, collecting two hits on three at bats while Miller went two-for-four.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
STATESBORO, GA - Georgia Southern’s Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) and Aurora Johnson (Macon, Ga.) hit back-to-back home runs in game two to salvage a softball split with North Florida Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Field. The Lady Ospreys took game one 3-2 while the Eagles won game two 3-0.
GSU moves to 8-16 on the season; North Florida is now 13-8.
North Florida 3, Georgia Southern 2
North Florida got two runs in the third on a two-run single, but missed out on a chance to pour on more by leaving the bases loaded.
The lead was cut in half in the bottom half of the inning on an unearned run, but Ashley Parenteau got the run back on a solo homer in the fifth.
The Eagles attempted a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh, pulling to within 3-2 when Smith followed a Shanita Black (Fayetteville, N.C.) single with a double. UNF starter Kelli Pitts ended the inning one batter later.
Black (two) and Smith (three) accounted for five of the six hits on the day for GSU.
Pitts picked up the win (3-2), allowing six hits and one earned run. Junior Logan Free (Sandpoint, Idaho) took the loss for Georgia Southern (3-5).
Georgia Southern 3, North Florida 0
All of the fireworks in game two came in the third inning when Smith and Johnson went deep just two pitches apart.
Black singled with two outs to bring up Smith, who hit the first pitch over the opposite field fence. Johnson made the score 3-0 on her fifth homer of the season.
Sophomore Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) gave up just three hits in tossing her second shutout of the season and improves to 4-4. Katie Brosky falls to 5-4.