Western Carolina 5, Presbyterian 4
Western Carolina 6, Presbyterian 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Michelle Tating fanned 15 batters and freshman Amber Hawkins hit two homeruns in Western Carolina softball's (11-30) 5-4, 6-1 sweep of Presbyterian College (12-25) Tuesday at the Catamount Softball Complex.
Western Carolina used a pair of homeruns to secure a win in the first game. The Catamounts had to come from behind after falling into a 4-0 deficit in the first three innings of play.
Presbyterian took the early lead scoring a run in the top of the third inning. Morgan White opened with a triple and scored off an RBI single by Amanda Miller. The Blue Hose tacked on three runs in the fourth inning aided by a Jenny Box homerun and a Catamount error.
The Catamounts didn't waste anytime answering the scoring challenge by Presbyterian, tying the game in their half of the fourth. Freshman Amber Hawkins led off the frame with the first homerun of her career, a solo shot over the centerfield wall. Beth Hauser followed with a double to left field and with one out Mollie Fowler singled up the middle and Hauser scored off a Blue Hose miscue. Starting pitcher Lauren Ross tied the game with one swing of the bat, belting her second homerun of the season for a two RBI shot.
Western Carolina took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Danielle Reese hit a single to right field. Back-to-back walks to Hawkins and Hauser loaded the bases. Reese scored off a sacrifice fly by Stephanie Beatty.
The Catamounts clung to the one-run lead through a scoreless sixth inning. Presbyterian looked like it might tie the game when the Blue Hose had the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Ross forced Krysten Handy to ground out to third base to end the game.
Ross improves to 5-15 on the season, tossing her eighth complete game of the season. She allowed 10 hits on two earned runs and struck out three.
The Catamounts capitalized on three walks and four wild pitches by Blue Hose starting pitcher Paige Cassady in the first inning of the second game. Swank led off the inning with a double to left field. With one out, Hawkins drew a walk and she and Swank moved to second and third off a wild pitch. Swank scored the first run of the game when Cassady threw her second wild pitch of the inning. Beatty then drew a walk and then on a double steal, Beatty stole second and Hawkins stole home. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Beatty scampered home when Cassady threw her fourth wild pitch of the frame.
Hawkins led off the third inning with a walk and Hauser followed with a double to left field. Hawkins attempted to go home but was thrown out at the plate. After Beatty was hit by a pitch, Fowler hit a line drive up the middle for a two RBI shot, plating Hauser and Beatty.
Tating was riding a shutout through three innings before Presbyterian scored a run in the fourth inning. Laura Tate reached first to start the inning off a Catamount error. She scored thanks to an RBI double by Ashley Ford.
Hawkins put the exclamation point on the game when she hit her second homerun of the day. She led off the fifth inning with a shot over the centerfield wall. Western Carolina has now hit 13 homeruns in the last 15 games.
Tating had her best outing of the season, tossing her fourth complete game of the year. The 15 strikeouts are the most for a Catamount hurler this season and she allowed just three hits and the lone Blue Hose run was not earned. She improves to 5-6 on the year.
Western Carolina travels to Winston-Salem State on Wednesday. First pitch in the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.
North Carolina A&T 6, Elon 0
Elon 7, North Carolina A&T 0
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Elon split a non-conference double-header with the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies on a sun-splashed afternoon at the Aggie Softball Complex in Greensboro, N.C. The Phoenix fell 6-0 in game one before bouncing back for a 7-0 victory in game two.
With the split, Elon is now18-19 on the year, while N.C. A&T owns a 23-13-1 record. Game one saw Jaimie Rao go two-for-three at the plate and Patti Weber collect one hit as the Phoenix fell to the Lady Aggies 6-0.
The Lady Aggies got on the board first with a three run second inning. Lillian Bullock led off with a triple that was followed with a walk by Bianca Alsobrook. Channing Statham drove in the first run of the game with a RBI single down the right field line. A double off the bat of Chaola Simmons scored the final two runs of the inning. She would be left of base as the final batter was retired.
Elon recorded its second hit of the game in the top of the fifth inning when Rao, who also reached in the top of the second, singled then reached second on an error by the shortstop. She would not cross the plate as the final Phoenix batters were retired to end the inning.
N.C. A&T added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-0 lead with a homerun by Ryanne Hill.
Suffering the loss in game one was Melanie Helterbran who allowed three runs on three hits in 2.0 innings of work. Carol Lilley struck out six and allowed three runs in 4.0 innings of relief. Jennifer Luper picked up the complete game win to improve to 15-3. She allowed just three hits while striking out four.
Elon started game two with a three run first inning. Jackie Gonzalez started the inning when she was hit by a pitch. Caitlin McGowan and Tracey Dahlen laid down back-to-back bunts to load the bases. Rao continued her offensive production with a two-RBI single to put the first two runs on the board. She later crossed the plate off of an RBI-single by Pam DelPizzo to extend the lead to 3-0.
A two-RBI single off the bat of Allison Hartman lifted Elon to a 6-0 lead in the top of the second. Gonzalez was the first Phoenix to reach when she drew a lead off walk. She later scored on a throwing error. McGowan and Dahlen hit back-to-back singles that brought Hartman to the plate. Hartman singled to score McGowan and Dahlen and give Elon a 6-0 lead.
An RBI single by Gonzalez plated Elon’s seventh run of the game. Rebecca Rijavec led off with a double and scored on the single by Gonzalez.
Hartman led off the top of the sixth with a one-out single that was followed by a double by Rao. DelPizzo earned a RBI with a sacrifice fly that gave Elon a 8-0 lead. Rijavec pushed across Elon’s ninth run with a RBI-double that scored Rao. Hannah Shelton recorded her first career hit with a RBI-single that gave Elon its 10th and final run of the game.
Picking up the win was Melanie Helterbran who improves to 6-7 on the season. Helterbran went 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits. She also added three strikeouts. Sasha Philpot fell to 7-8 on the year. In one inning of work, she allowed three runs on three hits and struck out one. Zapora Gaston pitched five innings of relief, allowing four earned runs on 13 hits and added three strikeouts.
Elon returns home this weekend for a conference series against Appalachian State. The first game of Saturday’s twin bill is slated for 1 p.m. with the game scheduled for approximately 3 p.m. Saturday’s game will also feature a homerun-hitting contest featuring head football coach Pete Lembo and selected members of the Elon football team. The final game of the series will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. Live stats and full coverage of the games will be available at www.elonphoenix.com .
Charleston Southern 5, College of Charleston 3
College of Charleston 6, Charleston Southern 1
Ladson, S.C. -- The College of Charleston softball team dropped game one 5-3 to Charleston Southern before going on to win game two 6-1 in a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Buccaneer Field.
The Cougars (26-28, 7-5) will return to Southern Conference play April 19 and 20 when they host UNC Greensboro in a three-game series. The Lady Buccaneers move to 17-34 after the re-match of the March 26, doubleheader.
CSU opened the scoring in the first inning of game one when Jill Shondel capitalized on a passed ball by the Cougars. CofC responded with a run in the second scored by first baseman Katie Nutaitis on a wild pitch.
The two team would score alternately in each of the following two innings until the Cougars pulled ahead with a run scored by Teri Mesko on a wild pitch and an RBI by Tiffany Harmon to drive in Brittany Small. CofC went up 3-2 on the Buccs after the fourth.
Charleston had all but won the game when Gail Matsushima hit a two-run walk off homer to put the final score at 5-3.
The Cougars turned the tables in the night cap, scoring three runs in the opening inning. Kristi Woodall tripled to left, driving in Harmon from second. Shannon Howard and Nutaitis doubled to left scoring runs two and three.
Charleston went three innings without scoring another run and added three insurance runs in the fifth. With Harmon and Woodall on second and third, Howard belted a three-run homer to left center. The homerun was the fifth of the season for the junior, she leads the squad.
Mesko (10-16) pitched 6.2 innings in game one. She struck out six Lady Buccs, allowing nine hits. Howard (14-10) earned the win in game two. She pitched a complete game with three strike outs and allowed five hits.
Gardner-Webb 4, Appalachian State 1
Gardner-Webb 5, Appalachian State 0
Boone, N.C. ? Appalachian State softball dropped a tough pair of games to Gardner-Webb on Tuesday afternoon. The Mountaineers fell by 4-1 and 5-0 margins to the Bulldogs. ASU drops to 7-26 on the season while Gardner-Webb improves to 18-28.
The Mountaineers struck first in the second inning to answer Gardner-Webb’s three runs in the opening two frames. With junior Ashley Gaston on first base, junior Stephanie Long doubled to right, moving Gaston around to third. An errant throw by the Bulldog second baseman allowed Gaston to score ASU’s first run of the game. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers could not plate Long and settled for one run in the inning.
The Appalachian offense struggled for the remainder of the game earning only two more hits in the final five frames with no runner advancing past first base until the seventh inning.
Junior Kayla Richardson was saddled with the loss, dropping her to 4-12 on the season. She allowed four runs, three earned off 12 Bulldog hits. Richardson fanned six while walking only one.
The offensive woes continued in game two as the Bulldog pitching staff stymied the Mountaineer batters with four innings of no hit ball. Freshman Tijana Stevens ended the no-no bid with a hard single to left field. ASU scored a leadoff single in the sixth off junior Brittany Gaston. In the seventh, freshman Morgan Price hit a double off the centerfield wall. Each inning, the Gardner-Webb defense held tough, keeping the Mountaineers from scoring.
Junior Yancy Moose pitched four complete innings and allowed four runs off six hits in the loss. She falls to 2-10 on the season. Junior Teri Fister pitched the remaining three innings, holding the Bulldogs to two hits and one run. She tallied two strikeouts and one walk in the outing.
Appalachian will travel to Radford on Thursday afternoon to face the Highlanders starting at 4 p.m.