Western Carolina 9, Winston-Salem State 0 (5 inn.)
Western Carolina 8, Winston-Salem State 0 (5 inn.)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina softball (19-34) got a pair of shutouts from its pitching staff and rode the homerun bats of Lauren Ross and Stephanie Beatty to 9-0, 8-0 victories over Winston-Salem State (19-26) Tuesday at the Catamount Softball Complex. The Catamounts end the regular season with a 6-5 home record.
Catamount hurlers Michelle Tating and Lilly McDonagh tossed three and two hit shutouts respectively in the pair of five-inning games. Tating had five strikeouts and evens her record to 8-8 on the season. McDonagh pitched the second game and tied her season-high with nine strikeouts and improves to 2-9 on the year.
Junior Lauren Ross was near perfection at the plate in the doubleheader. In the pair of games, Ross was 4-for-5 with four hits, three homeruns, seven RBI and also added a stolen base. She broke the school record for RBI in a career in the two-games, set by teammate Stephanie Beatty, and now has 84 in her three-year stint at Western Carolina. Ross also extends her hitting streak to 10. The homerun leader now has 27 long balls in her career.
Western Carolina continued to prove it is a hot club entering the Southern Conference Tournament. The Catamounts posted six runs in the bottom of the first inning in the opening game against the Lady Rams.
Senior Jamie Swank opened the doubleheader with a single to the right side. After catcher Danielle Reese was hit by a pitch, sophomore Amber Hawkins walked to load the bases. Junior Beth Hauser fouled out for the first out of the inning. Stephanie Beatty strolled to the plate and launched a soaring shot over the left field wall for the first grand-slam of her career and the third by the Catamounts this season. The inning continued when Mollie Fowler drew the second walk of the inning. Not to be outdone, Ross hit a homerun over the centerfield wall for a two RBI shot.
Western Carolina tacked on three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Beatty and Fowler drew walks to start the inning and Ross hit her second homerun of the game again over the centerfield wall for a three RBI effort this time. The two homeruns in a game ties Ross single-game record and the five RBI bests her four RBI in a game set in 2007 by the Hope Mills, N.C. native.
In the second game, Western Carolina got runs in all five innings to shorten the contest with the Rams. The Catamounts scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Swank opened the inning by reaching first off a Lady Rams' error. Reese followed with a double to centerfield placing runners on second and third. Hawkins ground out but picked up an RBI when Swank scored the first run of the inning. Hauser followed with a ground out as well, but Reese was able to score and give Hauser and RBI. Beatty drew a two out walk and Fowler singled to center field and moved to second on a Lady Ram throw to third as Beatty reached the bag safely. Ross' single RBI scored Beatty.
Junior Keely Torgison led off the second inning with a triple and scored off a sacrifice fly by Swank. The third inning saw a pair of runs by the Catamounts, with Ross leading the way thanks to a lead-off homerun. Heather Pritchard followed with a single and then stole second, moving to third on a Torgison ground out. Swank's RBI single not only scored Pritchard but kept her hitting streak alive, improving to 14 straight games with a hit.
Mary Leadford got her second hit of the season to lead off the fourth inning. She was erased by a fielder's choice by Beatty and Beatty scored thanks to an RBI double by Fowler.
Western Carolina played the shortened five-inning game thanks to a one out triple by Swank. The game-winning run was set up by Swank's triple who, scored when Reese ground out to the pitcher, but also notched an RBI when Swank scampered home.
The Catamounts are idle this weekend and awaiting the Southern Conference Tournament next week. Western Carolina is currently 7-14 in the conference race and sits in seventh place. The exact seed for Western Carolina is still a bit in question but WCU will begin tournament play on May 7 in Charleston, S.C.
Charlotte 8, Elon 0 (5 inn.)
Elon 3, Charlotte 1
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon softball team split a mid-week non-conference doubleheader with the Charlotte 49ers Tuesday afternoon at East Field. Elon fell 8-0 in game one before bouncing back for a 3-1 win in game two. With the win, Elon improves to 23-24 on the season while Charlotte drops to 31-26.
Charlotte took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Serena Smith doubled to center to score Sarah Malene from second. The 49ers looked to extend their lead when Jaime West doubled but Brandi Jones gunned down Smith at home from centerfield to record the second out.
Elon looked to answer in the bottom of the third inning when Patti Weber doubled down the left field line. Tracey Dahlen reached on an error at the next at bat. The Phoenix could not push a run across as the final two batters of the inning were retired.
The 49ers added four runs in the fourth off of three hits and one error. Malene drew a bases loaded walk to drive in Charlotte’s second run. Cee Brooks’ two-RBI single with two outs gave the 49er’s 6-0 lead going into the top of the third.
Charlotte posted the final two runs of the game in the top of the fifth after Keri Palma stole home and Whitney Williams drove in Jenny Rumbles with a single through the right side.
Suffering the loss in game one was Melanie Helterbran (7-9) who allowed six earned runs on seven hits and five walks. She also stuck out one. Katy Hackett improved to 14-13 with the win. She scattered just three hits and struck out one in 5.0 innings of work.
Game two saw Elon take 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Patti Weber reached on a fielder’s choice that drove in Jaymie Shanahan who was hit by a pitch to lead off the Phoenix third. Weber would be left stranded as the final batter was retired.
A RBI-single through the right side off the bat of Malene tied the game at one in the top of fifth. Charlotte would leave two on and Lilley got the final batter to fly out to centerfield.
With the score knotted at one, Dahlen led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single. She moved to third following a sacrifice bunt by Allison Hartman and a fly out by Helterbran. With two outs, Rebecca Rijavec doubled to right field that allowed the Phoenix to retake the lead at 2-1. The final run of the game was scored when Debbie Zeigler, who pinch hit for Jaime Rao, singled through the left side to score Rijavec and secure the 3-1 win for Elon.
Charlotte looked to threaten in the top of the seventh as Tenaya Tucker opened with single up the middle. Alyssa Kemmerer came in to run for Tucker and advanced to second following a single by Malene. Lilley retired the final two batters to end the Charlotte threat.
Lilley improved to 7-6 with the complete game win. She allowed no earned runs off of eight hits and one walk. She also struck out two. Emily Jeffery fell to 16-11 on the year in four innings of work. She allowed two runs on four hits and one walk. She also recorded one strikeout.
Elon returns to East Field for the final regular season series as they host the College of Charleston. The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m. with the second game following at approximately 3 p.m. The Elon seniors will also be honored between the games. Sunday’s game has a scheduled 1 p.m. start time. Live stats and full coverage of the weekend series will be available at www.elonphoenix.com.