Georgia Southern 3, Chattanooga 1
Chattanooga 9, Georgia Southern 4
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Chattanooga softball team erupted for five runs in the seventh inning of game two to salvage a split with Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Eagle Field and claimed its 10th Southern Conference regular season championship.
GSU took game one 3-1 while UTC won game two 9-4.
The win in the nightcap gives Chattanooga (35-18, 13-4) the Southern Conference title. Georgia Southern (33-28, 12-8) remains in third place with one game to play.
Junior Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) provided all of GSU’s offense in game one with a three-run homer, her ninth of the season. She added another in game two, capping off a four-run rally with yet another three-run bomb.
Senior Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada) held the Lady Mocs to just two hits through six innings. She allowed a single and walked three in the seventh to account for UTC’s lone run but escaped without further damage. She improves to 16-11.
Brooke Loudermilk (13-7) allowed six hits and three earned runs for UTC.
After Siliga and the Eagles rallied with a four-spot in the fifth, Chattanooga answered immediately with a Laci Upchurch home run to tie the game.
The Lady Mocs put the game away with five runs in the seventh, thanks in part to three walks, including two to lead off the inning.
Toni Hutchison broke the deadlock with a double and after another walk, Upchurch followed with a two-run single.
Kaitlin Holloway (9-2) earned the win in relief while sophomore Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) took the loss (3-7).
The series (and regular season) concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
College of Charleston 4, Elon 3
Elon 2, College of Charleston 1
ELON, N.C. ? On a sun-splashed but windy afternoon at East Field, the Elon Phoenix softball team split a double-header on Senior Day with the College of Charleston. The Cougars took the first game 4-3 before falling to Elon 2-1 in game two. With the split, Elon is now 24-25, including 12-7 in conference play. Charleston now owns a 29-30 overall record and is 12-7 in the Southern Conference.
Charleston scored first when Kristi Woodall scored on a passed ball. The Cougars would leave two stranded as Carol Lilley retired the final batter to record the third out. The Cougars added to their lead in the top of the third when the first three batters walked. Brittany Small then hit a one-out RBI single through the left side to plate to score Woodall for a 2-0 lead.
Elon tied the game at two in the bottom of the third inning. Jackie Gonzalez got things started with a single to right center. Patti Weber then walked to put runners at first and second. The two advanced following a wild pitch from Charleston’s Terri Mesko. Tracey Dahlen then drove in Gonzalez and Weber with a two out, two RBI-double.
CofC retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Katie Nutaitis was hit by a pitch and then scored following a wild pitch from Melanie Helterbran. Christal Kotchman plated the fourth run of the game for the Cougars with an RBI-single to left.
The Phoenix cut Charleston’s lead in the sixth on a sacrifice hit by Jaimie Rao. Helterbran got things started with a lead-off walk. Singles by Rebecca Rijavec and Debbie Zeigler followed Helterbran’s walk. Rao then flew out to deep centerfield to allow Hannah Shelton, who was pinch running for Helterbran, to score from third.
Elon threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning when Gonzalez led off with a single that was followed by a single by Hartman. Neither would score as the final two batters were retired to give the Cougars a 4-3 win.
Taking the loss for Elon was Lilley who falls to 7-8 on the season. She gave up one earned run on four hits and two walks. She also registered two strikeouts in four innings of work. Mesko improves to 13-17 with the complete game win. She allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks. She also struck out five.
Elon’s two run third inning was highlighted by Brandi Jones’ homerun to straight awaty center that gave Elon a 1-0 lead. A single off the bat of Gonzalez followed the round-tripper. Gonzalez would plate the second run of the game on a double by Dahlen.
Charleston avoided the shut out after loading the bases with one out. Tiffany Harmon’s groundout to first allowed Alex Williams, who was pinch running for Linzi Bereitschaft, to score.
Pam DelPizzo improved to 7-7 with the complete game win. She allowed no earned runs and just five hits while striking out three. Shannon Howard took the loss and is now 17-11. She allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out three.
Elon concludes the regular season tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the rubber game of the series with the College of Charleston. Live stats and full coverage of the game will be available at www.elonphoenix.com.
UNC Greensboro 2, Furman 1 (8 inn.)
UNC Greensboro 8, Furman 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Senior Mary Greenway set a new single-season stolen bases record as the UNC Greensboro softball team took a league doubleheader from Furman on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium. The Spartans used a walk off single to take game one, 2-1 in extra innings, and took the late game, 8-3.
UNCG (20-31, 6-11 SoCon) was led by Mary Catherine Vercoe and Brittany Ausley. The pair both posted a .667 batting average on the afternoon after going 4-of-6 from the plate. Vercoe posted a 1.167 slugging percentage to go with three RBI, three runs scored and one home run. Ausley extended her hitting streak to six games while recording one run and one triple.
Greenway was a perfect 8-of-8 on stolen base attempts and became UNCG’s single-season record holder with 46 stolen bases on the season, breaking her previous record of 41 set last season. She currently has 81 career stolen bases and is second all-time at UNCG.
Pitchers Hannah Angel and Amber Harrell combined for the two wins. Angel extended her win streak to three games after allowing one run on eight hits in 8.0 innings of work in the first game. Harrell picked up her 10th win of the season in the late game after allowing three runs on five hits in 7.0 innings. Both pitchers recorded six strikeouts.
The first game was scoreless heading into the top of the fifth inning before Furman took the early lead. The Paladins got a leadoff single from Kate Termini who advanced to second base with a sacrifice bunt from Colleen Harrison.
Bethany Ullrich was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base and Furman loaded the bases with a single to left field from Katie Michaels. Meredith Mielke hit an RBI single to left field to give Furman the early 1-0 lead.
UNCG responded with a home run from Vercoe in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game 1-1. Ausley hit her first triple of the season in the next at bat but the inning ended with a fly out to centerfield. The game headed into extra innings and Furman threatened to score first after pitcher Lana Mackey singled to left field and was moved two bases with back-to-back sacrifice bunts but the inning ended with a pop up to the short stop.
The Spartans were able to put a runner on early when Lyndsay Mouse was hit by a pitch. The second baseman then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch from Mackey. Vercoe showcased her hitting prowess with a walk off single to left field giving UNCG the victory.
In the night cap Furman took the early lead 2-0 lead with runs from Mileke and Cushing but the Spartans rallied and added four runs in the home half of the inning to take the 4-2 lead. UNCG got a leadoff single from Greenway who then stole second and third base before being plated with a RBI triple from Mouse.
Mouse added another run after scoring on a wild pitch before runs from Vercoe and Ausley. With the Spartans holding a 5-2 advantage, three runs in the bottom of the fourth sealed the win. Greenway, who led off four innings, hit a single to third base and stole both second and third base. She was plated with a three-RBI double from Miller which also scored Vercoe and Kailtin Merkt.
Furman added one more score in the fifth but couldn’t rally giving the Spartans their 20th win of the season and their sixth Southern Conference victory.
The teams will close out the series on Sunday with a single game scheduled for a 1 pm start. The Spartans will honor seniors Mary Greenway and Brandi Schnute in a short ceremony prior to the game.