Story Courtesy Elon sports information
Elon 4, Appalachian State 1
ELON, NC ? The Elon softball team earned a 4-1 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Senior Day in a shortened game at East Field on Sunday afternoon. The game was called in the bottom of the fifth inning due to inclement weather.
Elon (23-27, 9-10) put up runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Paige Goss led off with a single to left field and Tracey Dahlen drew a walk before both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Debbie Zeigler then singled to plate Goss and give Elon a 1-0 advantage. With runners on second and third, Rebecca Rijavec grounded out to the shortstop, scoring Dahlen from third.
The Phoenix posted two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Patti Weber knocked a routine grounder to the shortstop, plating Laurin Smith from third to give Elon a 3-0 lead. Brittney Waters then knocked a ball to the shortstop and was thrown out at first base, allowing Jaimie Rao to go home and putting Elon ahead 4-0.
Appalachian State (27-28, 10-11) recorded a run in the top of the fifth inning. Kasey Motsinger led off with a single to centerfield and Keri Blackwelder earned a walk before Ashley Gaston put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Natalie Willis then knocked a deep sacrifice fly to centerfield and Motsinger went home to cut the lead to three, 4-1. But, with two runners on, Elon pitcher Whitney Meeks struck out the next batter to end the Mountaineers’ scoring threat.
After starting to play the bottom half of the inning, the game was called due to rain.
Meeks (10-6) picked up the win for the Phoenix after tossing five innings and giving up one run on four hits while retiring three batters.
Kayla Richardson (5-5) suffered the loss after facing three batters in the first inning and giving up two runs on two hits. Yancy Moose threw four innings in relief and gave up two runs on one hit while striking out six batters.
Zeigler and Weber each posted one hit and one RBI for the Phoenix while Goss tallied a hit and Waters and Rijavec notched one RBI each. With her RBI, Zeigler moves to a tie for first in the Elon record book for RBI in a season with 42.
Motsinger, Blackwelder, Lindsay Glover and Mary Lutz each recorded a hit for the Mountaineers while Willis posted the RBI.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 3, UNC Greensboro 0
MT. PLEASANT, SC - Jayme Durand went two-for-three at the plate driving in one run while Shannon Howard pitched seven shutout innings as the College of Charleston defeated UNC Greensboro 3-0 to wrap up the regular season Sunday at Patriots Point Field.
The Cougars finish the season 29-28 overall and 14-7 in Southern Conference play while the Spartans close out the regular season with a 19-49 overall record and a 4-17 record in the SoCon. This marks the second time Charleston has swept a SoCon foe this year as the Cougars swept Chattanooga in the first conference series of the season at the end of March.
The Cougars scored three runs on six hits committing one error in the game with Howard (15-15) going seven complete innings striking out five Spartans on the day. UNCG had five hits committing two errors as Danielle Byrne (4-7) was credited with the loss in a relief appearance.
Four seniors were playing in their final home game as Durand along with Renee Francis, Leshe Russell, and Shondra Schlichenmayer finish their last home stand with a series sweep.
Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Furman 8, Chattanooga 5
GREENVILLE, SC - Senior Jessica Mathis went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a game saving catch to lead Furman to an 8-5 victory over Chattanooga in the regular season finale for both softball teams Sunday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium in Greenville, S.C.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Toni Hutchison came to the plate respresenting the potential go ahead run for the Lady Mocs. Hutchison belted a fly ball to deep left field, but Mathis reached to the top of the wall to make the catch and secure the win.
The Snellville, Ga., native helped give the Lady Paladins the lead just two innings earlier. Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, Furman used a hit batter and two singles to load the bases with one out. Mathis followed with a three-run triple to right-center to clear the bases and give Furman a 7-5 advantage. A fielding error with two outs allowed Furman to add an insurance run and up its lead to 8-5.
Furman bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of RBI singles from Amber Nelsen and Stephanie Cushing and a two-run double off of the left field wall by Abby Robertson.
Chattanooga pulled even in the top of the third. Hutchison delivered a two-out, three-run double to cap the four run rally. The Lady Mocs took their first lead of the day in the top of the fifth on an unearned run. Ashley Cuticchia was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and error. After advancing to third on a groundout, Cuticchia scored on Alyssa Edwards grounder to second base to give Chattanooga a 5-4 lead.
A Cuticchia single, Ashleigh Bull walk and Edwards single loaded the bases in the seventh before Mathis, playing her last home game at Pepsi Stadium, made the game-winning catch.
Sophomore Blake Murray (6-16) worked a complete game to earn the victory for the Lady Paladins. Murray allowed five runs, all unearned, on six hits while striking out five batters.
Robertson joined Mathis in pacing the Lady Paladin offense going 3-for-4 with two RBI while Amber Kiser went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Ashley Frizzell (20-19) suffered the loss for the Lady Mocs giving up three earned runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work. Jeannie Cochran and Edwards each collected two hits for Chattanooga.
The start of the game was dlayed three hours due to rain. The Furman victory snapped a 23-game losing streak to the Lady Mocs.
Furman, 26-35 overall and 7-14 in Southern Conference play, open play in the 2006 SoCon Tournament as the number seven seed, The Lady Paladins face second-seeded Charleston at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 2, Western Carolina 0
STATESBORO, GA - Georgia Southern sophomore Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) tossed a four-hit shutout, her second in as many days, to guide the Eagles to a 2-0 win over Western Carolina Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The GSU win means the first Southern Conference series loss for the Catamounts who fall to 41-18 and 16-4 in the SoCon in their inaugural season. The Eagles improve to 28-32, 12-9. Up next for both teams is the SoCon Tournament, starting Wednesday in Chattanooga, Tenn. Western Carolina, who has clinched the top seed, will play UNC Greensboro in its first game. Georgia Southern’s seed and opponent has yet to be decided.
“It’s always great to beat a team that’s already clinched the title,” said GSU head coach Natalie Poole. “Our goal was to put ourselves in a good position for the tournament. We tried not to focus on them; we tried to focus on ourselves and on what we felt like we needed to accomplish.”
Georgia Southern manufactured its first run in the third inning. Senior Shanita Black (Fayetteville, N.C.) reached on an infield single with one out, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Junior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) was intentionally walked to get to senior Gina Sterchi (Chattanooga, Tenn.) who hit a single through the left side of the infield to score Black.
A two-out rally by the Eagles in the fifth doubled their lead to 2-0. Smith tripled to left and scored on a single by senior Sam Steiner (Loxley, Ala.).
Unlike Saturday’s contest which saw Laliberte walk seven and pitch out of trouble in almost every inning, she walked just two allowed four hits for her fifth shutout of the season.
“I think that she had them guessing a little bit, trying to figure out what she was going to throw,” added Poole. “She struggled at times, but overall I thought she had a good performance.
Laliberte held the conference’s top hitting team to seven hits in two games.
Laliberte was bailed out by her defense in the sixth to hold on to the shutout. Allyson McCubbins was walked to lead off the inning, but failed to advance on the next two batters. Ashley Adams singled to put runners on first and second, bringing up Jenny Jackson. Jackson hit a shot to left, but was denied by junior Aurora Johnson (Macon, Ga.) whose leaping catch ended the inning.
Jackson took the loss for the Catamounts, to drop her record to 15-5. She allowed 10 hits and two earned runs with no strikeouts.