Furman 1, College of Charleston 0
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Brythe Blankenship hit a solo home run to push Furman over the College of Charleston in the final game of a Southern Conference softball series Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.
After losing the series 3-0, the Cougars fall to 21-26 overall and 5-4 in the conference. The Paladins improve to 17-17 overall and 6-3 in the league.
Blankenship's homer came in the second inning with one out. From there, neither team could put another on the board as the game turned into a defensive battle. There were a total of 42 put-outs between the two squads. The Cougars and the Paladins tallied four hits a piece.
Tiffany Harmon, Shannon Howard, Brittany Small and Christal Kotchman each had hits for CofC. Terri Mesko (8-14) pitched a complete game striking out five batters through 24 at-bats.
Lana Mackey (12-13) pitched seven innings for the Paladins with four strike outs. She allowed four hits in 25 at-bats.
The Cougars host Hampton in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, April 8, at Patriots Point. First pitch is at 1 p.m. Furman returns to action Tuesday when it travels to USC Upstate for a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
Georgia Southern 6, Elon 3
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern offense pounded out 13 hits and scored the first six runs of the game as the Eagles defeated Elon 6-3 Sunday in Southern Conference softball action at Eagle Field.
GSU (23-22, 5-4 SoCon) takes the weekend series two games to one after a split on Saturday. Elon drops to 16-16, 5-4.
Of Georgia Southern’s 13 hits, six came from the top three positions in the batting order. Senior Aubrey Thweatt (Georgia, Vt.), sophomore Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) and junior Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) each went 2-for-4 and drove in a run, in addition to scoring a combined four times.
Just like the series opener on Saturday, the Eagles scored three times in the first, twice in the second and once in the third.
Sophomore Sam Russo (Snellville, Ga.) drove in Siliga and Iduate with a single in the first, the first of her two hits on the day.
Senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) retired 15 of the first 17 batters she faced before getting into trouble in the sixth when Elon scored all three runs. Laliberte (11-7) finished the game with five strikeouts and allowed one earned run and five hits.
Elon starter Pam DelPizzo (4-6) gave up all 13 hits and six runs (two earned) in five innings of work.
Melanie Helterbran had two hits and the team’s only RBI.
The Eagles go outside conference play Wednesday when they host Florida A&M in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Elon returns to the field April 12-13 when they travel to Chattanooga to take on the Lady Mocs. Saturday’s double-header is slated to begin at 1p.m. The second game will begin at approximately 3 p.m. The final game of the series is set for Sunday at 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 10, UNC Greensboro 5
Western Carolina 7, UNC Greensboro 6
UNC Greensboro 7, Western Carolina 5
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro softball team picked up its first Southern Conference win with a 7-5 win over Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Lady Catamounts took the league series with a 10-5 win and a 7-6 win in the early games.
UNCG (14-22, 1-5 SoCon) was led by Mary Catherine Vercoe who was 6-of-10 from the plate on the weekend with two RBI, two doubles and one run scored.
Mary Greenway and Brittany Ausley were equally impressive from the plate both batting .500 for the weekend. Greenway was 6-of-12 from the plate with six runs scored and was 6-of-6 on stolen bases attempts increasing her season total to 34-of-34 while Ausley was 5-of-10 from the plate with two runs scored, one double, one home run and four RBI.
Amber Harrell, Hannah Angel and Mary Catherine Vercoe all saw action in the pitchers circle. In 13.0 innings of work Harrell allowed 15 runs on 12 hits and struck out 11 while Angel twirled 6.0 innings of action and allowed six runs on five hits while striking out 10. Vercoe saw action in 2.0 innings and took her first loss of the season.
Western Carolina took a 1-0 series lead with a 10-5 win in the first game of the series, which was delayed after six and a half innings of play on Saturday due to rain. The Spartans were trailing, 10-0 but managed to put five runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning to avoid the shutout.
The teams played a very close game in the second game. Western Carolina got on the board first with two runs in the first inning but the Spartans answered with back-to-back home runs from Brittany Ausley and Kaitlin Merkt to take the lead.
Western Carolina would respond and regained the lead when Keely Torgison hit a single to right field. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and two runners came home on a two-RBI single from Amber Hawkins, giving the Lady Catamounts the 4-3 lead.
The Spartans tied the game in the next inning. Greenway hit a leadoff triple and rounded the bases on a ground out from Brittany Ausley. The clubs were scoreless in the fourth but a two-run home run from Mollie Fowler put the lead back with Western Carolina but a pair of UNCG runs tied the game in the at 6-6 in the fifth inning.
Western Carolina hit a leadoff single in the sixth inning but after three walks form relief pitcher Mary Catherine Vercoe, a UNCG error sent Casey Camp around the bases, which proved to be all the Lady Catamounts needed to take the 7-6 win and 2-0 series lead.
The Spartans rebounded and took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in the final game of the series. Mary Greenway reached on a passed ball and proceeded to steal second and third base and scored on an RBI single from Whitney Miller. Brittany Ausley hit a single which advanced Miller and a RBI double from Vercoe scored Ausley and Miller.
After two scoreless innings, Western Carolina battled back to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning. Beth Hauser reached on a UNCG error and the bases were loaded after two walks from Spartan pitcher Amber Harrell.
Pinch runner Nicole Shook came home when Harrell walked Ashley Steinel. A sacrifice fly from Torgison sent another runner home while an RBI single from Jamie Swank tied the game at 3-3.
UNCG didn’t take long to respond and regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Lauren Ross, who came in for starting pitcher Michelle Tating, had two quick outs and then gave up a pair of walks and two singles. A RBI single from Ausley scored Gabel and Greenway rounded the bases on a Western error. UNCG added two more runs in the sixth inning and held on for the 7-5 win.
The Spartans next host the USA National Team on Thursday night as part of their “Bound 4 Beijing” Pre-Olympic Tour. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in UNCG Softball Stadium. Western Carolina will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. Wednesday for a doubleheader with No. 12 Tennessee. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
Rain Cancels ASU/UTC Tilt
BOONE, N.C. ? After already having Game 2 of their series with Appalachian State interrupted by heavy fog in the Boone area, Chattanooga (27-14, 7-0) had the remainder of that game, as well as the series finale, called off as a result of an overly soggy outfield left from severe overnight rains.
The start time of the suspended game, originally slated for 12:00 p.m., was pushed back to 2:00 p.m. before the determination was made that the field would be unplayable and the games would be canceled.
Chattanooga led Game 2 by a 6-0 score on a pair of first inning runs off a wild pitch and an error, a two-RBI single by freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and a two-RBI double by junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.). Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) had thrown three no-hit innings before allowing a single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
As per Southern Conference rules, Game 2 will not be recorded as a victory for the Lady Mocs due to the fact that the teams had completed only the first four innings. In order for the game to have been considered final, the teams would have had to complete five innings. As such, the individual statistics from that game will not count. The Southern Conference also dictates that both games will not be rescheduled because they cannot be made up outside of the original scheduled weekend.
Chattanooga has now had a total of 15 games washed off the schedule in 2008 but are also in sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference with a perfect 7-0 record.
The Lady Mocs will look to extend their current 11-game winning streak on Thursday, April 10 when they host Middle Tennessee State in a non-conference double-header at Jim Frost Stadium. First pitch is slated for a special time of 5:00 p.m.
ASU will return to action on Wednesday, April 9 against former SoCon rival ETSU. The midweek doubleheader gets underway at 3:30 p.m. from the ASU Softball Stadium.