Western Carolina 10, Winston-Salem State 2 (5 inn.)
Western Carolina 8, Winston-Salem State 7 (8 inn.)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Western Carolina softball (13-30) swept the doubleheader at Winston-Salem State (15-20) Wednesday at South Park Field. The Catamounts won the first game 10-2 in six innings and had to come from behind to defeat the Lady Rams 8-7 in eight innings in the second game.
Western Carolina scored in four of the six innings played to take the first game against Winston-Salem State 10-2. After a scoreless first inning, the Catamounts scored the first run of the game when an RBI single up the middle by Keely Torgison scored first baseman Lauren Ross who reached on a fielder's choice.
Winston-Salem State would take its only lead in the game in the bottom of the second inning. The Lady Rams scored two runs off RBI singles by Brittany Hull and Amber Shore.
The Catamounts scored three runs in the fourth inning to reclaim the lead. Torgison led off with a walk and scored when Jamie Swank singled up the middle for an RBI sending Torgison home. Swank was thrown out at second attempting to leg out a double. After catcher Danielle Reese reached on a Lady Rams error, freshman Amber Hawkins knocked her in with an RBI triple. Hawkins scored when Beth Hauser singled up the middle.
Western Carolina continued its offensive onslaught in the fifth. Mollie Fowler was hit by a pitch to open the inning and Lauren Ross hit a booming shot to left center field to score Fowler and record a triple. Ross scored when Torgison hit a line-drive RBI single to center field. An RBI single by Reese plated Torgison and Hawkins hit into a fielder's choice which captured her an RBI when Swank scored after drawing a walk.
A single by Ross and a walk by Torgison set the stage for the sixth inning. With two outs, Reese got her second hit of the day and second and third RBI when her single scored Ross and Torgison.
Junior pitcher Michelle Tating had another strong outing, tossing her second consecutive complete game. She allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six.
A one out walk by Reese set up Western Carolina's lone run in the top of the first inning of the second game. Reese moved to second on passed ball and with two outs, stole third to set up a scoring opportunity. Hauser scorched a hit past the Lady Rams' shortstop to score Reese.
The Catamounts tacked on two runs in the third inning after being held scoreless in the second. Swank led off with a single through the right side. Reese followed a double that streaked past the first base bag and into right field moving Swank to third. Hawkins ground out to first, allowed Swank to score and moved Reese to third. Reese scored the second run off a Lady Ram wild pitch.
A pair of Catamount errors and three Lady Ram hits plated four runners in the bottom of the third inning to give Winston-Salem State a 4-3 advantage.
Western Carolina gave up two scoring opportunities in the fifth inning when Swank and Reese were both called out at second trying to extend a single into a double. The greedy attempt at an extra bag bit the Cats again in the top of the sixth inning when Beatty hit a frozen rope to the wall in left field and had an easy double, however she was thrown out at third when she attempted to take the extra base. It was a haunting decision when Fowler followed Beatty with a shot to right field to pick up a double, a hit that would have easily scored Beatty had she not tried for the extra bag.
Winston-Salem State took advantage of two Catamount errors to add four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Western Carolina rallied from a four run deficit in the seventh inning to tie the game. Torgison drew a walk with one out after moving to second on a wild pitch. Reese then hit an RBI single to right field to score Torgison. Hawkins followed with a single and then Hauser drew a walk to load the bases. Beatty hit a two RBI single to pull the Catamounts within one run and Mollie Fowler reached first on a Lady Rams' error which scored Hauser and tied the game at seven. With runners on the corners and two outs, Ross struck out looking to end the inning.
In the eighth inning, Ross was placed on first due to the international tie-breaker rule. Freshman Nicole Shook reached first on a Winston-Salem State error and Ross scored on the play. It was the only run scored by either team in the extra inning of play.
Freshman pitcher Lilly McDonagh got the start in the second game and went six innings, receiving a no decision. She had flashes of success on the mound, including a season-high nine strikeouts.
Tating came in to pitch in the seventh inning with the score tied. She tossed two scoreless innings and didn't give up a hit to take her second win of the day improving to 7-6 on the season.
Western Carolina plays its final Southern Conference road series this weekend. The Catamounts travel to Statesboro, Ga. to battle Georgia Southern in a three-game slate beginning with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Furman 3, Georgia State 0
Georgia State 2, Furman 1
Greenville, S.C. -- Lana Mackey tossed a complete-game shutout and fanned six batters to lead Furman to a 3-0 victory and doubleheader split with Georgia State in non-conference softball action Wednesday at Pepsi Stadium. The Panthers took game two, 2-1.
Mackey scattered five hits and did not issue a walk on the way to her sixth shutout of the season. The win improved the sophomore to 14-17 in the circle.
Furman took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Abby Robertson reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Mackey grounded out to the catcher, but Robertson surprised the Panther defense by rounding third and sliding home ahead of the throw.
Mackey doubled to open the fifth inning and moved to third on Kate Termini’s single. Georgia State cut down Mackey at the plate on Megan Schonhar’s chopper to short, but the catcher’s attempt to throw out Termini at third sailed into left field allowing the junior to score.
Bethany Ullrich followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Schonhar.
Madi Gore (9-5) took the loss allowing one earned run on four hits in six innings of work.
In game two, Georgia State took advantage of a pair of throwing errors in the top of the fourth to plate two runs on its way to a 2-1 victory.
Furman jumped on top in the third when Brythe Blankenship singled up the middle to drive in Stephanie Cushing after the shortstop reached base on an infield single. The Paladins, however, left runners stranded at second and third after leaving the bases loaded in the previous frame.
In the top of the fourth, Danielle Roddy drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third when Natasha Berry reached on an infield single. With Catherine Lee at the plate, Berry stole second as Schonhar’s throw sailed into center field allowing Roddy to race home.
An attempt to throw out Berry trying for third skipped into the dugout sending Berry to the plate for the eventual winning run.
Furman out-hit the Panthers 8-3, but stranded nine runners on base while Georgia State left just one.
Ashley Cowan (7-4) took the victory for the Panthers. She allowed an unearned run on eight hits in seven innings while walking two and fanning five. Berry went 2-for-3 at the plate for Georgia State.
Ullrich (5-5) absorbed the loss for the Paladins despite allowing just one earned run in seven innings. She walked two and struck out two. Katie Michaels went 3-for-4 at the plate while Blankenship collected two hits for Furman.
The Paladins host Chattanooga for a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend at Pepsi Stadium. Saturday’s twinbill is set for 1 p.m. The series finale will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
East Carolina 7, UNC Greensboro 1
East Carolina 2, UNC Greensboro 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to East Carolina on Wednesday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Pirates took game one, 7-1 and claimed the sweep with a 2-1 win in the late game.
UNCG (14-27, 1-8 SoCon) was led by Mary Catherine Vercoe who was 3-of-5 from the plate with one run scored and one RBI. Lyndsay Mouse was 2-of-5 on the afternoon with one double and one RBI.
Amber Harrell and Hannah Angel each played one complete game. Harrell took the 7-1 loss in the early game after allowing seven runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Hannah Angel falls to 6-12 on the season after allowing two runs on five hits in the nightcap.
In the early game East Carolina used a leadoff double from Stacey Andrews in the top of the second, which lead to its first run of the contest. After Andrews advanced to third on a Jessica Johnson groundout, she scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Cristen Aona, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Pirates were able to extend their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third with a run from Angel Barrella who was pushed across home plate with a UNCG error.
East Carolina tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning before the Spartans had a chance to cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Lyndsay Mouse hit a leadoff double but was called out at third before UNCG had a chance to push her across home plate.
The Pirates would take a 7-0 led with three runs in the top of sixth inning from one hit and two Spartan errors before a triple from Mary Greenway put a runner in scoring position. Greenway was plated with an RBI single from Mouse to avoid the shutout.
The teams played quite evenly in the second game but East Carolina managed to put the first run on the board in the third inning. Barrella hit a leadoff single and moved to second on the throw before teammate Christina Merrida advanced her to third base with a sacrifice bunt. Barella was able to capitalize on a wild pitch to give ECU a 1-0 lead.
UNCG managed to tie things up with a home run from Vercoe in the bottom of the fourth but ECU shortstop Paige Baggett answered with a home run of her own to put the lead back with the Pirates.
The Spartans had one last try in the seventh and were able to put a runner on base with a single from Whitney Sirois. Kayla Hensley, who was pinch running for Vercoe, was able to move to second base with a wild pitch and East Carolina pitcher Brooke Swann walked Laura Olenderski but the game ended with a fly out to center field.
UNCG heads to Charleston, S.C. for a weekend league series with the College of Charleston. Doubleheader action gets underway on Saturday at 1 pm and concludes with a single game on Sunday with a scheduled 1 pm first pitch.
Georgia Tech 5, Georgia Southern 0
Georgia Tech 10, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Georgia Southern’s six-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday thanks to a sweep by the Georgia Tech softball team.
The Yellow Jackets (23-27) blanked the Eagles (28-24) 5-0 in game one and took game two 10-3.
“I feel like if you take away one inning in each game, we lose by one in game one and we’re in the second game,” said GSU head coach Natalie Poole. “The first game I don’t feel like we were very intense and we didn’t come out ready for what they had to offer.”
Georgia Tech pounded out 24 hits in the doubleheader, led by Whitney Haller, who went 6-for-7 with five RBI, and Aileen Morales who had four hits including two home runs.
The Eagles had six hits in game one and had a runner reach base in every inning except the seventh, but only two reached third and none scored.
“We had runners on a lot and we had them in scoring position, we just couldn’t capitalize on it,” said Poole. “Most of our strikeouts came when we had runners in scoring position.”
GSU sophomore Lindsey Hopkins (McDonough, Ga.) went 2-for-2 with a triple.
Georgia Tech jumped on GSU starter Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) early, opening the game with three straight singles and a walk. Haller drove home two with a double.
Laliberte (14-8) settled down after that and permitted just a solo homer by Morales in the sixth.
“I thought outside of the first inning she pitched a pretty good game,” said Poole. “She threw too many pitches and she didn’t throw a first-pitch strike as often as I would have liked, but I thought that she hung in there.”
Whitney Humphreys (12-13) scattered six hits and fanned eight to get the complete-game victory.
Morales wasted little time in getting the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard in game two, leading off with a roundtripper off the left-field foul pole, the first of three first-inning runs.
The Eagles answered with two in the first and one in the second to tie the game at 3-3, but Georgia Tech broke it open with a six-spot in the third, including a two-run shot by Haller.
Georgia Southern junior Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) recorded half of the team’s hits with a 3-for-4 performance and a RBI.
Humphreys (13-13) earned the win in relief in game two while freshman Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) took the loss (10-8).
Georgia Southern returns to Southern Conference play this weekend hosting Western Carolina in a three-game series.