Story Courtesy Elon sports information
North Carolina State 8-2, Elon 1-0
ELON, NC -The Elon University softball team dropped two games to North Carolina State on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at East Field. The Wolfpack took game one 8-1 before downing the Phoenix 2-0 in the second contest.
In the first game, in the top of the second inning, NC State loaded the bases with no outs before Elon pitcher Carol Lilley struck out the next three batters to end the inning and the Wolfpack scoring threat.
But in the top of the third inning, NC State put three runs on the board. Shanna Smith doubled to leadoff the inning before Jen Chamberlin doubled to right centerfield to plate Smith and take a 1-0 lead. Beth Poore, pinch running for Chamberlin, then stole third and Megan Dalthorp singled through the left side to send Poore home and go up 2-0. With the bases loaded, Blair Harkey singled to score Dalthorp and put the Wolfpack ahead 3-0.
Smith started the top of the fourth inning with an infield single and Chamberlin singled up the middle to put runners on first and third before a throwing error by the Elon catcher on a steal attempt allowed Smith to score and put Chamberlin on third. Miranda Ervin then singled up the middle to plate Chamberlin and put the Wolfpack on top 5-0.
NC State added another run in the top of the fifth when Lisa Nentwig took the first pitch of the inning over the left field fence to go up 6-0.
Elon put up a run in the bottom half of the fifth when Jaimie Rao knocked a solo homer out of left field to trim the lead to five at 6-1.
The Wolfpack added two more runs in the top of the seventh when Chamberlin knocked a two-RBI doubled to left centerfield to score Smith and Ashleigh Davis and give NC State the 8-1 lead.
Abbie Sims (19-10) registered the win after throwing a complete game and giving up one run on three hits while fanning 10 batters.
Lilley (4-8) suffered the loss for the Phoenix. She tossed three innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits while retiring four batters. Samantha Schroeder threw four innings in relief and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out two.
Chamberlin led the Wolfpack from the plate, going three-for-four with three RBI and one run scored. Smith, Ervin and Dalthorp each posted two hits for the Wolfpack.
Rao paced the Elon offense with two hits on three at-bats while Paige Goss recorded Elon’s other hit.
In the second game, the Wolfpack got on the board in the top of the third inning. Chamberlin reached on a fielder’s choice with two outs before Jennifer Patterson doubled to right centerfield to plate Chamberlin and put NC State on top 1-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Sims knocked a 1-1 pitch out of left field to give the Wolfpack a 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Phoenix loaded the bases on a single, a walk and a hit batter with one out. A slow roller back to the pitcher resulted in the force out at home plate before a ground out to the third baseman ended the inning.
Shaina Ervin (14-3) picked up the win for the Wolfpack after hurling seven innings and giving up no runs on four hits while striking out six batters.
Whitney Meeks (9-5) recorded the loss for Elon. She threw a complete game and gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits while retiring five batters.
Dalthorp led NC State from the plate, recording two hits on three at-bats. Smith, Chamberlin, Patterson and Sims all recorded a hit for the Wolfpack.
Laurin Smith, Brandi Jones, Patti Weber and Nicole Ellis posted one hit a piece for the Phoenix.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
ATHENS, GA - The No. 8 Georgia softball team scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win game one 4-3 and received a shutout from Katie Griffith in game two to sweep Georgia Southern Wednesday evening at the UGA Softball Complex.
The Bulldogs won by the scores of 4-3 and 3-0 to improve to 45-9. The Eagles fall to 22-27.
GSU senior Shanita Black (Fayetteville, N.C.) went 0-for-4 in game one, ending her hitting streak at 30 games.
No. 8 Georgia 4, Georgia Southern 3
Sojourner Moody’s single in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie, spoiling GSU’s dramatic rally in the top of the inning.
Down 3-0 with two outs and nobody on in the final frame, the Eagles battled back to tie the game. Senior Gina Sterchi (Chattanooga, Tenn.) started the rally with a walk and junior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) followed with a single. Another walk, this time to junior Aurora Johnson (Macon, Ga.), loaded the bases.
Junior Maria Laurato (New Orleans, La.) hit a ball to deep short, allowing Smith to elude the tag on her way to third and Sterchi scored for the first run. Senior Sam Steiner (Loxley, Ala.) hit a 2-2 pitch up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.
In the bottom of the inning, Kelsey Todd led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The first out was recorded on a failed sacrifice, but an infield single by Kellie Middleton put runners on first and third. Moody hit the first pitch she saw through the left side of the infield to end the game.
Kasi Carroll earned the win in relief (22-3), allowing three earned runs in 1.2 innings. Sophomore Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) took the loss (9-9), allowing three earned runs in 6.1 innings of work.
Georgia Southern loaded the bases with one out in the second on a single and two walks, but Georgia starter Jessica Doucette induced a fly ball too shallow to score Johnson and got a strikeout to end the rally.
The Eagles threatened again in the third, putting runners on second and third with two out, but was unable to score.
Steiner and Smith accounted for all of GSU’s hits recording three each.
No. 8 Georgia 3, Georgia Southern 0
Georgia scratched across runs in the second, third and fifth innings and Katie Griffith tossed a three-hit shutout to complete the sweep.
The Bulldogs manufactured their first run, putting together a walk, sacrifice and single to take an early lead.
A walk led to Georgia’s second run as well. A two-out double by Doucette scored Moody.
Ashley Godfrey padded the Georgia lead with a two-out single to left-center.
Griffith struck out three and walked none to improve to 10-1. Junior Logan Free (Sandpoint, Idaho) allowed just four hits and K’d five, but walked four and gave up all three earned runs.