Story Courtesy Elon sports information
College of Charleston 6-1, Elon 4-2
ELON, NC - The Elon Phoenix and College of Charleston Cougars split a Southern Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at East Field. The Cougars took game one 6-4 before Elon earned a 2-1 victory in the second game.
In game one, College of Charleston got on the board early in the game. In the top of the first inning with runners on first and second, Jennifer Golden doubled to score Izmena Cabrera and Amber Shifflett to give the Cougars a 2-0 advantage.
Elon answered with one run in the bottom of the inning when Tracey Dahlen knocked a solo homer out of right field to cut the lead to one at 2-1.
In the top of the second inning, Renee Francis walked before Jessica Lyness doubled to right centerfield to put runners on second and third. Shifflett then doubled to left centerfield to score Francis and Lyness and put the Cougars up 4-1. The next batter, Cabrera doubled to right centerfield to plate Shifflett and give CofC a 5-1 edge.
In the bottom of the second inning, Elon's Jaimie Rao blasted a two-run home run to cut the lead to two at 5-3.
Paige Goss led off the bottom of the third with a single before stealing second. Dahlen drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Debbie Zeigler singled to left field to score Goss and cut the lead to one at 5-4.
CofC (19-20, 4-1) added one more run in the top of the fifth inning to take the game 6-4. With the bases loaded, Lyness singled up the middle to score pinch runner Bridget Loudermilk from third.
Cabrera, Golden, Francis and Lyness each recorded two hits for the Cougars while Golden posted two RBI. Dahlen and Zeigler led the Phoenix from the plate with two hits a piece while Rao recorded two RBI.
Amber Havnar (10-9) picked up the win for CofC after hurling a complete game and giving up four runs on six hits and striking out two batters. Carol Lilley (4-6) suffered the loss for Elon after tossing five innings and giving up six runs on eight hits and fanning three. In her first action of the year, Melanie Helterbran threw two innings in relief. She gave up no runs on three hits and struck out one.
Elon’s two runs in the top of the first inning in game two were enough to earn the win. Goss led off with a single to left field before Dahlen drew a walk. A ground out by Zeigler advanced the runners to second and third before a single from Laurin Smith plated Goss and Dahlen to give the Phoenix a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, singles by Cabrera, Jayme Durand and Golden loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Leshe Russell scored Cabrera to cut the lead to one, 2-1. With two runners still on base, Elon pitcher Whitney Meeks retired the next batter to end the Cougar scoring threat.
Goss, Zeigler and Smith all posted hits for Elon while Smith recorded both RBI. Cabrera led the Cougars from the plate with two hits while Durand, Golden and Shandra Schlichenmayer all posted a hit for CofC.
Meeks (9-1) posted the win for Elon (18-11, 4-1 SoCon) after throwing a complete game and giving up one run on five hits and fanning eight batters. Shannon Howard (9-11) suffered the loss for the Cougars after tossing six innings and giving up two runs on three hits and fanning three batters.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 13-3, Appalachian State 5-1
BOONE, NC ? Western Carolina used big hits and a solid dose of good fortune to take a pair of games from the Appalachian State University softball team Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts prevailed, 13-5, in the first game behind four three-run home runs and won the second game, 3-1, in an eight-inning pitchers’ duel. The Catamounts improved to 24-12 overall and remain atop the Southern Conference standings with a sterling 5-0 record. Appalachian falls to 14-20 overall and 3-5 in the league.
Lindsay Glover (Greensboro, N.C.) had two hits on the afternoon, but drove in three of the Mountaineers’ six runs in the two games. Freshman Brittany Gaston (Roswell, Ga.) went 3-for-6 on the day, but it wasn’t enough to counter WCU’s offensive performance.
After the first game, the Apps responded by holding the Catamounts scoreless for the first seven innings of the second game as Yancy Moose (Hamptonville, N.C.) suffered the complete-game loss. Appalachian had a chance to come up on the winning end in the bottom of the seventh as Glover singled to centerfield to open the inning. An error by the centerfielder appeared to give Glover an opportunity to circle the bases, however she stumbled as she approached third base and had to hold. Unfortunately, after an intentional walk, the next three Mountaineers were retired in order to keep the game knotted at 0-0.
The Catamounts made the most of their extra chance, getting three runs, all unearned, in the eighth inning. The gamewinners came on Stephanie Beatty’s single to right field that around two Catamounts in to score. Beatty scored later in the inning on Samm Keppel’s single to centerfield.
Appalachian tried to rally back in the bottom half of the frame as the first three batters reached base. Glover drove in a run with a groundball to the third baseman before WCU pitcher Jenny Jackson ended the threat with a fly ball to centerfield to record her eighth win of the season.
The first game was not as kind to the Mountaineers as the Catamounts posted three runs in the first inning on Ashley Adams’ three-run shot to center field. The Catamounts struck again with another three-run homer in the third, this one coming off the bat of Jenny Jackson. The Mountaineers picked up a run in the bottom half of the inning on Glover’s sacrifice fly that scored Stephanie Long (Durham, N.C.).
ASU added two more in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from Glover and Brittany Gaston. However, the Catamounts would get two more three-run homers in the top of the sixth from Savannah Filley and Lauren Ross to take a commanding lead and end the game in the sixth inning with a 13-5 lead.
Mendy McKenzie got the complete-game win for WCU, improving her record to 13-3. Keri Blackwelder (Stanfield, N.C.) took the loss, making two separate appearances in the game for a combined two and two-third innings of work.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
STATESBORO, GA - The Chattanooga softball team pounded out 17 runs and 20 hits, and used three home runs in the second game to complete a sweep of Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The Lady Mocs win their first Southern Conference games of the season and improve to 22-23 overall and 2-3 in the SoCon. The Eagles fall to 17-22 and 1-4.
Chattanooga 7, Georgia Southern 0
Ashley Frizzell shut the Eagles out on seven hits and struck out three to win the opener.
The Lady Mocs put two runs across in the first, taking advantage of a passed ball and two wild pitches.
The big inning came in the fourth as Chattanooga batted around. Tara Tembey, Ashlan Clarkson and Toni Hutchison each tallied RBI singles.
Chattanooga outhit GSU 9-7 and the Eagles left 10 runners on base.
Frizzell improves to 11-13 on the season. Junior Logan Free (Sandpoint, Idaho) allowed four hits and five earned runs and falls to 7-6.
Chattanooga 10, Georgia Southern 5
Chattanooga jumped out to a 10-1 lead and got round-trippers from Tembey, Ashleigh Bull and Clarkson.
After GSU put up a run in the bottom of the first on a triple by senior Shanita Black (Fayetteville, N.C.) and a sac fly by junior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.), the Lady Mocs scored 10 unanswered runs. The first three came off the bats of Tembey and Bull, who hit back-to-back shots in the third inning. Tembey’s was a two-run homer that scored Ashley Cuticchia.
The fifth inning saw Chattanooga score five runs on just three hits. The first two batters reached on a walk and a bunt single, and were moved to third on a throwing error. Cuticchia drove in one with a single and starter Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) appeared to get out of the inning with a strikeout, foul out and a ground ball. However, the ground ball was booted to score one and extend the inning. Clarkson followed with a three-run bomb and the Lady Mocs led 8-1.
Two more runs put Chattanooga up 10-1 going into the sixth. Sophomore Aubrey Thweatt (Georgia, Vt.) led off the inning with her first career home run and after a single and a double, Aurora Johnson (Macon, Ga.) added another run with a single.
The Eagles rallied in the seventh with a two-run single by Smith and had runners on first and second but ended the game on a double play.
Black picked up a hit in each game, going 2-for-3 in game two to extend her school-record hitting streak to 22 games.
JayCee Wood (11-10) picked up the win while Laliberte (7-7) took the loss.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 3-2, Furman 2-6
GREENSBORO, NC ? Adriane Audley’s game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave UNC Greensboro a 3-2 victory over Furman in game one of a Southern Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Lady Paladins gained the split with a 6-2 win in the nightcap.
With the game tied 2-2 heading to the last half of the seventh, Stephanie Talarek and Kara Clouser had back-to-back singles and Heather Branche reached safely on a fielder’s choice to load the bases after Furman’s first baseman attempted to force out Talarek at third, but the throw was late. Audley then went after the first pitch she saw and laced a base hit through the right side of the infield to give UNCG (14-19, 1-4 SoCon) its first conference win of the season.
Furman (20-22, 3-5 SoCon) took a brief 1-0 lead on a Megan Jaudon RBI single in the top half of the first inning, before the Spartans answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead. Audley scored the first run on an RBI single by junior Jennifer Bonilla. Two batters later, senior Kelly Allen brought home freshman Lyndsay Mouse with a single up the middle to give the Spartans the lead.
Furman evened the score at 2-2 when Stephanie Cushing doubled to centerfield to plate Joni Lockridge in the third.
Junior Vanessa Oakes (7-6) won her second game this week by allowing only two runs on six hits and tied her season high with nine strikeouts. Audley and Bonilla each had two hits, including a double, to lead a nine-hit attack for UNCG.
Vanessa Williams (10-9) received the loss after allowing three runs on nine hits. Jessica Mathis went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
In the nightcap, Furman pushed across a run in the first and two more in the fourth inning to lead 3-0.
With one swing of the bat, Talarek got the Spartans back into the game with a two-run home run to left field to make it a 3-2 affair.
But just as quickly as UNCG edged back into the game, Furman scored three times on four hits in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead. Blake Murray had an RBI single and Jodi Lockridge added a two-run double that hit off the wall in centerfield to account for the Lady Paladins scoring.
Mathis (4-4) made the lead standup by allowing only a walk to Bonilla in the final two innings as she allowed two runs on five hits over the distance to garner the game two victory. Mathis helped her cause with a double and triple at the plate, while Lockridge drove in three runs. Abby Robertson went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
Hannah Angel (5-9) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits over 7.0 innings for the Spartans. Talarek’s homer was the first of her collegiate career.