SOFTBALL COMPLETES SERIES SWEEP OF FURMAN
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Senior A.J. Street (Lilburn, Ga.) gave up just three hits and senior Heather Smith (Williamson, Ga.) snapped an 0-for-13 streak with two hits to lead the Georgia Southern softball team to a 3-0 Southern Conference win over Furman Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
GSU (17-19, 4-2 SoCon) takes the weekend set 3-0 and has now won 12 in a row over the Lady Paladins (12-18-1, 2-4 SoCon).
”I felt like (the game) flowed smoothly,” said GSU head coach Natalie Poole. “A.J. did her job on the mound, which makes a difference. She had no strikeouts, no walks - every ball was put in play. Thirteen of those 24 (at bats) were hit to either (second baseman) Katie (Smith) or A.J. Our defense did a great job of fielding the ball and taking care of it.”
Heather Smith had gone hitless since her first at bat in game two last Saturday at Chattanooga. After a flyout in the first, she singled home freshman Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.) in the third and sophomore Michelle Beasley (Metter, Ga.) in the fourth. Katie Smith (Goose Creek, S.C.) accounted for the game’s final run with an RBI double in the fifth.
”Our hitters had eight hits on the day, which I was pleased about, we got rid of their starter which is something we always try to do.”
Street (5-4) threw just 80 pitches and did not allow a runner past second base. Lana Mackey (6-8) lasted two innings and allowed three hits and one earned run.
The Eagles venture outside conference play Wednesday with a doubleheader at No. 22 Georgia starting at 4 p.m.
CofC Sweeps Series over Appalachian State
BOONE, N.C. ? The College of Charleston swept the Southern Conference softball series with Appalachian State in a 12-hit slugfest before 245 at the ASU Softball Stadium, winning the final game 10-2 in six innings, on Sunday in Boone, N.C.
The Cougars, who improved to 17-17 overall and 3-3 in SoCon play, will host South Carolina State in a midweek conference doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The Mountaineers fell to 9-24 and 2-4.
Jennifer Golden’s RBI-groundout to the shortstop scored Amber Shifflett for Charleston’s first run of the game. Shannon Howard’s RBI-double to centerfield scored Kristie Shifflett for the 2-0 Cougar lead in the first inning.
K. Shifflett had a leadoff homerun to right center and Kolby Schooley had an RBI-hit by pitch to score Howard to extend Charleston’s lead, 4-0, before Appalachian State’s Lindsay Glover’s two-out RBI-single down the right field scored Natalie Willis. Glover scored on miscue by the third baseman as the Mountaineers got within two, 4-2, before a rain delay was called in the top of the fourth inning.
After the rain delay, K. Shifflett led off with a single to center, followed by a Jennifer Golden walk. Howard’s one-out three-run shot over the centerfield fence gave the Cougars a 7-2 cushion.
Charleston added three more runs in the sixth on a pair of home runs ? a Howard solo shot to center and Terri Mesko’s two-run shot which scored Katie Pesature.
Mesko (9-7) scattered three hits and gave two runs ? one of which was unearned. She walked two and struck out two.
Kayla Richardson (2-7) surrendered six hits and four runs for the loss. Kerri Blackwelder gave up six hits and six runs. She struck out three and walked two in the final three innings.
K. Shifflett and Howard led the 12-hit attack on 3-for-4 hitting. Kolby Schooley, Pesature and Mesko added a pair of hits apiece.
Danielle Peters, Glover and Willis had a hit for the Mountaineers.
LADY MOCS COMPLETE SWEEP AND SHUT OUT OF UNC GREENSBORO
Greensboro, N.C. ? The Lady Mocs scored four runs on eight hits, propelled by senior second baseman Brittney Whittier’s (Scottsdale, Ariz.) three-run homer in the top of the second, to complete the sweep and shut out of the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Sunday afternoon 4-0.
Rain delayed the game nearly 30 minutes, but the Lady Mocs picked up right where they left off Saturday afternoon on both sides of the ball.
Senior pitcher Ashley Frizzell (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and freshman pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) combined for the shutout with Loudermilk throwing six strikeouts on 14 batters faced and being credited with the win, improving her record to 13-8.
Sophomore third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) started the offensive strike in the top of the second, picking up the first hit of the game with a hard hit ground ball to the left side before advancing to third on junior right fielder Tara Tembey’s (Folsom, Calif.) two-out single.
Whittier picked up three RBIs with her third home run of the season over the right field fence to take an early 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the second.
In the top of the third, after holding the Spartans scoreless, senior first baseman Alyssa Edwards (Geneva, N.Y.) hit a two-out double that bounced off of the left field fence but was left on as the inning retired with Chattanooga still up 3-0.
Tembey picked up her second hit of the day on a line drive down the right field line advancing Hutchison, who reached on an error by the shortstop, to second base with no outs. Whittier singled up the left side to load the bases, but sophomore designated player Laci Upchurch’s (Madison, Tenn.) ground out to the pitcher turned into a double play leaving runners on second and third.
Frizzell captured an assist on the first out of the bottom of the fourth before giving up the second hit of the game to Adriane Audley and walking Leslie Furness. Loudermilk came in relief hitting Jennifer Bonilla on the first pitch to load the bases. But a popped up ball to freshman shortstop Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) and strikeout ended the inning with the score still 3-0.
Blosser picked up Chattanooga’s eighth hit in the top of the fifth before advancing to second on a passed ball, but back-to-back outs left Blosser on as the inning closed.
Loudermilk tallied three straight strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth, making it four on the day at that point, to retire the inning holding UNC Greensboro scoreless.
Chattanooga picked up another run in the top of the sixth after Tembey reached on a walk. She advanced to second on Whittier’s ground out to the third baseman before scoring on Upchurch’s at bat, which resulted in an error on the shortstop and advancing to second leaving the score 4-0 in the middle of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Blosser had her second hit of the day and advanced to second on Edwards’ ground out, but was left on second going into the bottom of the seventh.
UNC Greensboro was led by Audley with two of the team’s three hits. Bonilla had the third hit for the Spartans.
Chattanooga begins its two-week stint on the road on Wednesday, when the team travels to Jacksonville State for a doubleheader beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Western Carolina Blanks Elon, 6-0
ELON, N.C. ? Sophomore pitcher Lauren Ross recorded her first complete-game shutout of the season as the Western Carolina softball team defeated Elon 6-0 Sunday at East Field. The Catamounts improve to 15-22 overall and 2-4 in the Southern Conference, while the Phoenix fall to 21-16 and 5-1 in conference play.
Ross tossed seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out five and improves to 7-6 on the season. Elon could only produce two hits to the outfield against Ross in the course of the game.
A pair of walks given up by Elon pitcher Melanie Helterbran set up the first run of the game for Western Carolina. With one out, Danielle Reese drew the first walk in the third inning and advanced to second thanks to a perfect sacrifice bunt by Mendy McKenzie. After Nikki Bost walked to put runners at first and second Stephanie Beatty singled to the left side to score Reese.
The Catamounts caught a break in the bottom of the third inning. Ross gave up two walks to start the inning and then had a wild pitch to move Tracey Dahlen and Debbi Zeigler to second and third. Ross settled down and forced Helterbran to ground out to the first baseman and Jamie Rao to strike out. Laurin Smith came up and knocked a sharply hit ball toward the shortstop but the ball struck Zeigler, who was moving to third, and was called out due to runner’s interference.
Elon threatened again in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, the Phoenix’s Rao hit a ball to the fence in left center field for a double. It was only the second hit to the outfield Ross had given up. With two outs, Ross walked Jaymie Shanahan to put runners on the corners. Ross got out of the jam when she forced Patti Weber to line out to the shortstop.
A tight game was blown open in the top of the seventh inning by the Catamounts. Mollie Fowler led off the inning by drawing a walk and stole her first base of the season. Jamie Swank followed with a single to centerfield that moved Fowler to third. Swank then stole second to place runners at second and third. Heather Pritchard hit a bunt single that scored Fowler for the first run of the game. Reese hit an RBI single to right field and then advanced to second on the throw which scored Swank and moved Pritchard to third. In yet another bizarre play in the series, McKenzie singled to the shortstop, who froze with the ball in her hand. The play allowed Pritchard to score and then as the Elon player attempted to throw the ball to second, it sailed over the second baseman’s head and into right field. The error scored Reese and McKenzie moved all the way to third base. A ground out by Stephanie Beatty to the shortstop scored McKenzie. Western Carolina scored five runs on four hits in the inning and had seven total hits in the game.
Western Carolina returns to action on Tuesday when the team travels to Winston-Salem to take on Winston-Salem State. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.