South Carolina 3, Western Carolina 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Western Carolina softball (0-1) dropped its opening-day game 3-0 at South Carolina (2-4) Wednesday at Beckham Field in the club’s third year of existence.
After two and a half scoreless inning, South Carolina jumped on the board in the bottom of the third. Lisa Longo opened the inning with a base hit to left center field. Gamecock Becky Martinez’s sacrifice bunt moved Longo to second base. Laura Mendes’ RBI double plated Longo for the first run of the game by the Gamecocks. Catamount pitcher Michelle Tating was called for an illegal pitch on a three and two count facing Jessica Josker and giving her first base on a walk and moved Mendes to third base. Mendes scored the second South Carolina run thanks to an RBI single by Jill Semento.
South Carolina tacked on one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Tating got two outs before giving up a double and three straight singles to allow Longo to score her second run of the game and take a 3-0 lead.
With the bases loaded, South Carolina looked toad to their lead. Head Coach Christine Hornak pulled Tating and replaced her with Lauren Ross who promptly recorded the first Catamount strikeout of the game forcing Semento to swing at her three and two offering.
Western Carolina had base runners in the first four innings and had a runner at third base twice, with senior Jamie Swank thrown out at home in the first and third innings. Ten of the last 15 Catamount batters struck out to end the game. Defensively, Western Carolina had a good showing not committing an error in the game.
Ross came in the game and tossed two and a third scoreless innings, recording three strikeouts and giving up three hits. Tating took the loss in her first appearance on the mound for the Catamounts allowing three runs on eight hits.
Juniors Heather Pritchard and Beth Hauser accounted for all four of the Catamount hits in the game. Pritchard and Hauser each had a pair of singles.
Western Carolina returns to the diamond February 17 as the Catamounts travel to Atlanta, Ga. to take on Georgia State. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Jacksonville 8, Georgia Southern 6
Jacksonville 3, Georgia Southern 2
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- Jacksonville rallied to win game one and held on to win game two to sweep Georgia Southern in softball action Wednesday at the JU Softball Complex.
The Dolphins win two error-filled games to even their record at 4-4. The Eagles drop to 3-3.
The two teams combined for 14 errors on the day; eight in game one (four each) and six in game two (three each).
Game 1: Jacksonville 8, Georgia Southern 6
JU came back from a 6-1 deficit in the fifth inning to score seven unanswered runs.
GSU put two runs across in the third and four in the fifth. Sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) got the big hit with a three-run homer.
The Dolphins matched the Eagles with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Three of those runs were unearned thanks to two GSU errors. That continued in the sixth as all three JU runs were also unearned. Amber Moseley broke the 6-6 tie with a two-run double.
Shannon Jensen (2-2) earns the win in relief. In 4.2 innings she allowed four runs (all unearned) and three hits. GSU sophomore Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) took the loss (0-2).
Game 2: Jacksonville 3, Georgia Southern 2
Georgia Southern pounded out eight hits but could only put across two runs and left the potential winning run on base in the seventh.
The Dolphins went ahead 3-0 on single runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings. The Eagles started their comeback with a run in the sixth on an RBI single by freshman Stephanie Peet (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and cut the margin to 3-2 on a groundout by Glover. Junior Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) was intentionally walked to put runners on first and third with two outs but Jensen induced a groundout to end the contest.
Sophomores Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.) and Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) recorded two hits each in the nightcap. Iduate totaled four hits on the day.
Senior Mandi Stophlet (Templeton, Calif.) was the hard-luck loser (0-1), allowing just three hits and one earned run in six innings. Jackie Samuels (1-1) earned the win while Jensen got the save (1).
Next up for the Eagles is the GSU Invitational in Statesboro. Play begins Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. and continues through Sunday.