STATESBORO, Ga. --- Samford won twice and host Georgia Southern went 1-1 at day one of the GSU Softball Invitational Friday at Eagle Field.
Samford (4-2) defeated GSU (1-4) 3-1 and Charleston Southern (2-4) 11-1. After losing the opener, the Eagles blanked Bethune-Cookman (3-2) 7-0 and CSU topped BCC 5-1 in the finale.
Samford 3, Georgia Southern 1
Samford scored all three runs in the first two innings and used a strong pitching performance from Stephanie Royall to win the GSU Invitational opener 3-1 over Georgia Southern.
GSU threatened in the first, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but freshman Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) was thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on two walks and an infield single. Jessica Owens scored on a wild pitch and Liz Pearse crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly.
Samford padded the lead in the second with a run on another infield single, this time by Jeslyn Metcalf.
Georgia Southern finally broke through in the sixth. Senior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) doubled to left and freshman Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) followed with a single to right.
Royall went the distance for the Bulldogs, striking out eight and allowing five hits to improve to 3-1. Junior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) also fanned eight in six innings. She falls to 0-1.
Georgia Southern 7, Bethune-Cookman 0
GSU blew open a 1-0 game with two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to shut out Bethune-Cookman 7-0.
Senior Katie Smith’s (Goose Creek, S.C.) two-run double in the fifth put Georgia Southern ahead 3-0 and in the sixth, senior Maria Laurato (New Orleans, La.) launched a three-run homer to left center to finish off
the scoring.
Side capped off an outstanding afternoon with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with two runs and two RBI. On the day she went 5-for-7 and drove in three runs.
Senior Logan Free (Sandpoint, Idaho) tossed a one-hit shutout, striking out 10 while walking seven to even her record at 1-1. BCC’s Lanaya Jenkins allowed nine hits and seven earned runs to drop to 2-1.
Florida 5, Chattanooga 1
Gainesville, Fla. ? The Lady Mocs tallied eight hits but fell to No. 20 Florida 5-1 in the team’s second game of the Cox Communications Classic in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday evening.
Chattanooga (1-1) showed sparks in the fifth and seventh inning but couldn’t recover after Florida (8-1) took a quick four run lead after three innings.
After each team won its first game of the day, both were held scoreless in the first inning. Freshman Brittany Eason recorded the first hit of the game followed by another hit by sophomore Laci Upchurch in the top of the second.
But the Gators got on the board first with Lauren Roussell scoring on a wild pitch and Brooke Johnson scoring on a Kim Waleszonia double to make the score 0-2.
The Lady Mocs produced another hit from junior Tara Tembey before returning to defense in the third. And Florida collected two more runs off a walk and sacrifice fly putting Chattanooga down four.
Senior Ashley Frizzell made her second appearance of the day relieving junior Heather Woods in the circle after 2.1 innings.
Both Frizzell and Florida’s Stacey Nelson held the score in the fourth before senior Jeannie Cochran got her first hit of the night in the top of the fifth to lead off. Sophomore Ashley Cuticchia and senior Alyssa Edwards also added hits
before all three were left on base retiring the inning.
In the final inning of the game, Cochran led of with a single to right field and Cutcchia walked before a throwing error by Florida’s Savana Kelly sent Cochran home and Edwards reaching on a fielder’s choice to make the score 1-5.
The Gators had five runs on five hits. Five Florida players had one hit each with Lacy Howard tallying two RBI to lead the team.
Chattanooga is now 1-1 at the Cox Communications Classic hosted by the University of Florida. The Lady Mocs face Fordham at 11:15 a.m. and No. 28 NC State at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday.
College of Charleston 12, Manahattan College 1
College of Charleston 4, North Florida 2
College of Charleston’s softball team opened up day one of the Cougar Classic with a 12-1 win over Manhattan College, before defeating North Florida, 4-2 at Patriots Point Field in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The Cougars improved to 3-3 overall, and will face North Dakota State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a 5 p.m. game with James Madison.
North Dakota State is now 5-0, and James Madison is 1-1.
UNCG 12, Morehead State 6
GREENSBORO, NC ? Freshman Brittany Ausley and senior Jennifer Bonilla both smashed a pair of home runs as UNC Greensboro defeated Morehead State, 12-6, in the third game of the 2007 Spartan Softball Classic.
The Spartans hit five home runs in the game as they won their home opener. The Spartans sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run fifth and looked to be on their way to an early ending to the game. But Morehead State sent eight batters to the plate, scoring four times, to cut the lead in half and stay alive.
UNCG (2-4) wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. Ausley, in her first at-bat at UNCG Softball Stadium, lined a home run over the wall in left-center to stake the Spartans to an early 1-0 lead.
Morehead State (0-1) got the run back in the bottom half of the frame. Courtney Seiler led off the inning with a single and stole second. She moved to third on a single by Bri Jones, who then stole second. After a groundout, Brandy Bucher hit a grounder to third. The throw was made to cut down the run at the plate, but the ball was dropped on the tag to allow Seiler to score.
But the Spartans came right back with two runs in the second. For the second straight inning, UNCG smacked a lead-off home run as freshman Kaitlyn Merkt ? in her first at-bat at UNCG Softball Stadium ? went deep to left give UNCG the lead. Adriane Audley tacked on an insurance run later in the inning with an RBI double to give UNCG a 3-1 lead.
Bonilla made it 5-1 in the fifth and chased Morehead State starter Sarah Funston. Bonilla smashed a two-run home run well over the left field wall.
UNCG wasn’t done in the inning, however, as Ausley smashed a grand slam to left center off reliever Alex Gjevre to give the Spartans a 9-1 lead.
Morehead State scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, all of which were unearned after a pair of Spartan errors. Brandy Bucher drove in two of the runs on a double to left center and came around to score one batter later on a single by Sarah Funston.
Morehead State added a single run in the sixth before Bonilla slammed a three-run homer to give UNCG some breathing room once again.
Vanessa Oaks worked the first five innings for UNCG to pick up the win and go to 2-0 on the season. Amber Harrell worked the final two innings for the Spartans.
UNCG will face Kent State at 12 noon Saturday. Morehead State plas again today, facing Campbell in a game that begins at approximately 5:35 p.m.