Furman 1, Presbyterian 0
Furman 10, Presbyterian 3
Greenville, S.C. -- Sophomore Lana Mackey tossed a two-hit shutout in game one and earned the save in game two as Furman swept a softball doubleheader from Presbyterian 1-0, 10-3 Wednesday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
Mackey scattered two hits, allowed just one base on balls and fanned 13 Blue Hose batters to improve to 2-5 with the game one victory. Furman scratched across the only run it would need in the bottom of the fifth.
Morgan Hughey started the frame with a double over the centerfielder’s head and moved to third on a groundout. With two outs, Meredith Mielke reached base on an error by the PC first baseman allowing Hughey to score from third.
Presbyterian (1-7) got a leadoff single in the seventh from Rachel Parker and pinch runner Lindsey Trombley moved to third with the help of a wild pitch and a passed ball. Mackey shut the door though striking out Katie Anderson and Mary Gordon to end the game.
Gordon (1-3) took the loss for the Blue Hose despite allowing no earned runs on two hits while striking out five.
In game two, Furman rallied from a 3-0 deficit with 10 unanswered runs and Mackey pitched three innings of one-hit ball to earn her first save of the season in the Paladins’ 10-3 win.
Presbyterian struck first as Parker plated Kayla Handy with a two-out single in the first inning. After and Anderson double down the leftfield line, Amanda Miller lined a two-run double to center to stake the blue Hose to a 3-0 advantage.
Furman answered quickly with a five-run second inning. Abby Robertson opened the frame with a double to left field and moved to third as Brythe Blankenship singled and advanced to second on the throw. A walk to Kate Termini loaded the bases and Robertson scored on a dropped infield fly by the PC second baseman. Pitcher Bethany Ullrich followed with a double over the leftfielder’s head to clear the bases and give Furman a 4-3 lead. Katie Michaels reached on a single and Mielke followed with a single down the left field line to score Ullrich.
Furman would add a third inning run on a throwing error and plate four more in the bottom of the fourth inning. Robertson laced an RBI single to center and the outfielder misplayed the ball allowing a second run to score. Furman upped the lead to 9-3 as the catcher’s attempt to throw out a base stealer sailed into center field. Blankenship capped the scoring by sprinting home on a wild pitch.
Ullrich (1-1) earned the win working four innings and allowing three runs on five hits. Mackey struck out two and walked two in three innings of relief. Robertson, Blankenship and Termini all scored a pair of runs each while Mielke and Robertson each collected two hits.
Erin Stewart suffered the loss for Presbyterian giving up six runs on five hits in two innings. Paige Cassady pitched four innings of relief allowing four runs on four hits while walking five.
Furman, 3-6 on the season, takes a brief break for winter exams before traveling to Charleston Southern for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on February 26.
North Florida 4, Georgia Southern 3 (8 Inn.)
North Florida 5, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern softball team came up short in both games of their doubleheader with North Florida on Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The Eagles (6-8) were edged 4-3 in eight innings in game one and 5-1 in the second game.
The Lady Ospreys (7-4) struck first in the top of the second inning of game one when Ashley Parenteau was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring Ashley Battaglia. North Florida added a run in the top of the fourth and took a 2-0 advantage over GSU, before the Eagles evened the game in the bottom of the sixth.
Junior Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) blasted a double to centerfield to lead off the sixth inning for Georgia Southern. Pinch runner Bethany Crenshaw (Warner Robbins, Ga.) eventually scored when sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. GSU added their second run of the inning off of Michelle Beasley’s (Metter, Ga.) sacrifice fly to leftfield, which scored Stephanie Peet (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
The game remained knotted at two and went into extra innings. North Florida scored twice in its half of the eighth and after GSU brought home a runner in the bottom half, stranded runners on second and third to end the game.
Devyn Findley (5-1) picked up the win for the Lady Ospreys, while Georgia Southern’s Megen Smith (2-2) earned the loss.
GSU used two hits and a North Florida error in the second inning of game two to take the early 1-0 lead. The Eagles held the lead until the top of the fourth inning when the Ospreys manufactured a run off of Heather Hyde’s double. North Florida added two runs in the fifth and two in the sixth both off of home runs to give them the 5-1 win.
North Florida’s Tori Ahern notched the win improving her record to 2-2 on the season, while Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) falls to 0-4.
Siliga went 3-for-5 on the doubleheader for Georgia Southern as did sophomore Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.).
The Eagles are back in action this weekend hosting the GSU Eagle Classic. GSU is scheduled to play Oakland on Friday morning at 11 a.m.
Charlotte 5, Appalachian State 2
Charlotte 10, Appalachian State 2
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? The hot bats of the Appalachian State softball team cooled down on Wednesday afternoon as the Mountaineers dropped a tough doubleheader to Charlotte, 5-2 and 10-2. The losses push Appalachian to 0-5 on the season, while Charlotte improves to 6-2 on the campaign.
The Mountaineers opened up the first game with a leadoff single by junior Brittany Gaston followed by a bunt single from freshman Sarah Rappe. With runners on first and second, freshman sensation Katie Boyd laced a double to the right field gap, scoring Gaston. Rappe was cut down attempting to score, while Boyd advanced to third. Boyd would later score off a passed ball. ASU took a 2-0 lead with only a half inning in the books.
The Niners answered in the bottom of the second, scoring an unearned run. Charlotte loaded the bases later in the inning, but ASU starter Kayla Richardson was able to strand three runners.
Charlotte scored again to tie the game in the bottom of the third off a double off the left-centerfield fence. In the bottom of the fifth, Charlotte exploded for three runs off three hits to take a 5-2 lead.
The 49ers held the Mountaineers scoreless in the final two frames, winning the first game of the doubleheader, 5-2.
Richardson took the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits. She struck out five while walking only two. In defeat, Richardson fell to 0-2 on the season.
Charlotte opened game two in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs on five singles and a Mountaineer error. They would push the margin to 6-0 an inning later by scoring two runs on three hits.
The Mountaineers threatened in the top of the third. Rappe reached third after a single, stolen base and a groundout, but was stranded only sixty feet from home.
After the Niner leadoff batter doubled to center, ASU’s starting pitcher Yancy Moose was replaced by Teri Fister. Moose left after allowing six runs on eight hits in 2+ innings pitched. Moose struck out two while walking one. Fister had a tough outing, allowing three runs, two earned on one hit in a third of an inning’s work, facing three batters. She was replaced for Richardson, who got the Mountaineers out of the inning with no additional damage.
Trailing 10-0 in the top of the fourth Stephanie Long opened the inning with a walk, followed immediately by Ashley Gaston who smashed her seventh career homerun. The two-run homer cut into the Charlotte margin, 10-2.
The Apps tried to mount a rally in the top of the fifth, but could not score. The game was ended because of the eight-run rule with Charlotte taking the 10-2 win.
Moose was charged with the loss, her second of the year.
Appalachian will return to action on Friday morning against Syracuse at the ECU Pirate Classic at 10 a.m. ASU will then face Purdue at noon, followed by Penn State on Saturday.
Jacksonville State 7, Chattanooga 6 (8 Inn.)
Jacksonville State 7, Chattanooga 5
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. ? A pair of homeruns and six RBI from freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) were not enough as Jacksonville State (7-5) defeated Chattanooga (5-6) 7-6 in eight innings and 7-5 in a non-conference double-header Wednesday night at University Field.
In Game 1, Jacksonville State got on the board first, pushing across a run on a groundout by junior outfielder Jackie Jarman to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning before junior pitcher Kayla Collins added a second run with an RBI single the following inning.
The Gamecocks continued their offensive attack in the third inning when junior infielder Coutrney Underwood connected for her first career homerun to lead off the inning and make it 3-0. After advancing a runner to third base on an error and a wild pitch in the fifth inning, senior third baseman Whitney Elder drove her in with a pop-fly double to increase JSU’s advantage to 4-0.
Junior pitcher Melissa Dowling continued her strong outing in the top of the sixth as she struck out the side around a pair of singles while the Gamecocks scored a single run for the fifth straight inning, pushing across a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-0.
In the top of the seventh inning that all changed as Chattanooga rallied for five runs on six hits, capped off by a massive three-run homerun by freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) over the right-centerfield fence to tie the score at 5-5.
After setting the Gamecocks down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning to send it to extras, the Lady Mocs advanced their tie-breaking runner to third on an error before taking the lead on a wild pitch, 6-5. JSU then notched three straight outs to limit the damage and send the game to the bottom of the eighth inning.
Jacksonville State quickly sacrificed their tie-breaking runner over to third before freshman catcher Kylie Jo Chandler belted a two-run homerun out to left center to give the Gamecocks a walk-off 7-6 victory.
For JSU, Chandler and Underwood both finished with 2-for-4 nights with each scoring a run while Underwood produced one RBI and Chandler finished with two. Senior third baseman Whitney Elder and junior designated hitter Kayla Collins each contributed an RBI while Dowling collected the victory to move to 3-3.
Blevins led the Chattanooga attack, going 2-for-4 with a homerun and three RBIs while junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) added a 2-for-4 night with a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) took the loss for the Lady Mocs to fall to 1-3.
In the second game, Chattanooga jumped out ahead early as freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) lined an RBI single and Blevins connected for her second homerun of the night, this one a two-run shot, to give the Lady Mocs a 3-0, first inning lead.
UTC added two more runs in the top of the third inning when Blevins laced an RBI triple and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) drove in a second run on a single left field to make it 5-0.
In the fourth inning, Jacksonville State woke up offensively as they drove in six runs on four hits to pull ahead 6-4. Three RBI singles and a second homerun by Chandler fueled the rally. JSU would add an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to push their lead to the 7-5 before closing out the come-from-behind victory.
Chandler led the offense for the Gamecocks with a 1-for-3 performance with three RBIs and a run scored while Elder, Underwood, junior outfielder Jackie Jarman and junior catcher Allie Barker each drove in one run. Freshman pitcher Ashley Eliasson went the distance to pick up the win and improve her record to 3-1 on the season.
For Chattanooga, Blevins went 2-for-3 with a homerun, triple, three RBI’s and two runs scored while Fuzzard and Upchurch each added an RBI. Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss for UTC, falling to 2-2 on the season.
On the night, Blevins finished 4-for-7 with two homeruns, a triple and six RBIs.
The Lady Mocs return home when they host the 2008 Chattanooga Challenge from February 22-24 at Jim Frost Stadium. Chattanooga will open play at 4:30 p.m. when they face East Tennessee State.