Samford 3, Northern Colorado 2; New Mexico State 8, Samford 0
EL PASO, Texas ---- The Samford softball team split its first two games in day two of the UTEP Invitational Friday evening as it defeated Northern Colorado, 3-2, before falling to New Mexico State, 8-0.
A seventh inning rally finally put the Bulldogs (4-3) on top of the Northern Colorado Bears (3-7) for the first time since the first inning, and the Bulldogs were able to retire three batters quickly to end the game and take the 3-2 win.
Amy Gonzalez was the first Samford batter to get on base as Northern Colorado pitcher Hillary Van Otterloo walked her. Gonzalez then stole second base to get into scoring position. Katie England stepped up to bat and rattled off a double to bring Gonzalez home and give Samford its first run of the game.
The Bears put two runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning as Melisa Ryba walked and then stole second. Van Otterloo then walked and advanced to second a sac bunt which put runners in scoring position. Ryba then scored on a passed ball while Van Otterloo went to third before scoring on another passed ball. The Bears now had the one run advantage with a 2-1 score on the board.
The game was scoreless until the top of the seventh when Whitney Terry tripled to right center field to bring home Kristy Lawrence, who got to first base on an error by the Northern Colorado first baseman. Rachael Reeves then singled to center field and Terry scored to give Samford the 3-2 lead.
Samford’s junior pitcher Stephanie Royall threw a full seven innings, striking out four batters and giving up only two runs on five hits. Lawrence, Terry and Amanda Barrs all were 2-of-3 at the plate while Lawrence had 13 putouts at first base.
Next, Samford faced New Mexico State (12-3). The Aggies shutout the Bulldogs in five innings, scoring in each of the last four innings. NMSU posted one run in the second and fourth innings and three in the third and fifth. Aaren Fisher started at the circle for the Bulldogs but after giving up two hits on three batters, Kayla Burris was called in to relieve. Burris lasted two-thirds of an inning before Barrs was called to the circle but the Aggies’ hot bats proved to be too much for the Bulldogs’ as they rattled off eight straight runs.
The Bulldogs will play once Saturday as they face Cal State Northridge at 10 a.m. CT. Samford will then wrap up play in the tournament on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. CT against San Jose before taking on UTEP.
Georgia Southern 4, Charleston Southern 2; Mercer 8, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern softball (5-3) splits opening day of the Holiday Inn Eagle Classic Friday at Eagle Field. They defeated Charleston Southern (4-4) 4-2 but lost to Mercer (4-3) 8-1.
Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) lifted Georgia Southern over Charleston Southern with a two run home run in the seventh.
“She really showed a lot of heart and guts playing the way she did,” said head coach Maggie Johnson. “We just had her hit in the second game because she was not feeling well. She did everything she could to help the team.”
Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) went a combined three for six with a run scored in the day’s action.
Game One
Georgia Southern defeated Charleston Southern 4-2 on the back of Siliga’s two run home run in the seventh inning.
Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) won her fourth game of the season after allowing only two runs and no walks. Glover turned in her third complete game performance.
“She is tough and threw fairly well today,” said Johnson.
The Buccaneers took an early one-run lead in the second. Gail Matsushima doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Brittany York’s single.
Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) gave the Eagles an early 2-1 lead in the fourth inning with a two RBI double driving in Ennis and Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.). Ennis went two for four batting in the second spot.
Brittany Giannini tied the game with a RBI single in the fourth.
Siliga came up big in the seventh and broke up a 2-2 tie with a 2 RBI home run to give the Eagles a 4-2 win.
Georgia Southern was out hit six hits to 10 but scored four runs to Charleston Southern’s two. The Eagles committed no errors to the Buccaneers two.
“We don’t have to hit well from start to finish but we do have to hit when it counts,” said Johnson.
Game Two
Softball took an early lead but was unable to hold on and lost 8-1 to Mercer.
Georgia Southern and Mercer traded runs in the second inning, but the Bears scored seven unanswered runs on eight hits.
The Eagles managed only four hits and one run against the Bears.
“We talked about picking each other up and when the pitching is not going so well, the hitters need to help them out,” said Johnson.
Amanda Glover (Evans, Ga.) hit a solo shot to center for Georgia Southern’s lone run.
Mercer scored four runs in the fifth. Emi Sherrill drove in three of the runs with a double to center.
Jenni Holtz picked up the win in complete game fashion allowing four hits and striking out eight.
The Holiday Inn Eagle Classic continues tomorrow at 11 a.m. Georgia Southern will face Belmont at 11 a.m. and Radford at 3 p.m.
Furman 5, East Tennessee State 2; East Tennessee State 3, Furman 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Sophomore Morgan Hughey belted a pair of home runs to lift Furman to a 5-2 victory over East Tennessee State and a doubleheader split with the Lady Bucs in non-conference softball action on Friday afternoon in the inaugural twinbill at the ETSU Softball Complex.
East Tennessee State (4-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Trisha Massenzo’s two-run homer in the first inning before Hughey homered to left-center in the second to cut the lead in half. In the top of the sixth, Hughey hammered a two-run shot to left-center field to give Furman a 3-2 lead and
Katie Michaels followed a Kate Termini walk with an RBI double to up the lead to 4-2.
Abby Robertson collected her fourth hit in as many at bats in the top of the seventh inning and Stephanie Field lined her second double of the game off of the centerfield wall to plate Robertson for the final 5-2 margin.
Lana Mackey limited ETSU to only two runs on four hits in a complete game effort to improve to 3-1 in the circle. The junior fanned six batters without issuing a walk. Robertson went 4-for-4 with a run while Hughey finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Field, a freshman from Sarasota, Fla.,
was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
Ashley Boyd (0-1) took the loss for East Tennessee State. She surrendered four earned runs on five hits in just 1.1 innings in the circle.
In game two, ETSU’s Jessie Hackworth delivered a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to break open a scoreless tie and Darci Gilbert tossed a complete-game shutout to guide the Lady Bucs to a 3-0 victory.
Gilbert held Furman to just two hits over seven innings of work while striking out four and walking three. Hackworth went 2-for-3 to pace ETSU who registered nine hits in game two.
Bethany Ullrich (0-1) suffered the loss for Furman. The sophomore allowed two runs on five hits in 3.1 innings of work. Stephanie Mihaly pitched 2.2 innings of relief allowing one run on four hits while fanning three batters.
Furman, 3-5 on the season, returns to action on February 26, with a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
Marshall 4, UNC Greensboro 3; Ball State 7, UNC Greensboro 5
ATHENS, Ga. ? Despite a 4-for-7 day from senior Mary Catherine Vercoe, UNC Greensboro lost a pair of close games at the Sixth Annual Georgia Softball Classic on Friday, falling 4-3 to Marshall and 7-5 to Ball State.
Hannah Angel (4-2) took the loss against the Thundering Herd (5-4), allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in six innings of work. Vercoe was 2-for-3 with a home run for the Spartans (6-6), while freshman Jordan Jewett was also 2-for-3.
Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, Marshall pounded out four hits to plate three and take the lead. Caitlyn Jackson singled to center to lead things off, and Melanie Stoehr’s single one out later brought in pinch-runner Melissa Loesing to tie the game. Angel coaxed a popup for the second out, but Kelly Nielson’s double to right center plated Stoehr and Marcena Bertoldo singled to score Loesing.
Marshall took advantage of some sloppy UNCG defense to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning. After J.J. Bitner reached on a bunt single and stole second, she came around on a Spartan fielding error with two outs.
The Spartans answered with an unearned run of their own in the top of the second, when Jordan Jewett singled to bring in Kaitlyn Merkt, who reached on a dropped fly to lead off the inning.
UNCG went ahead in the top of the fourth, when Vercoe hit a home run to left field, her second of the season. After the Thundering Herd reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning, the Spartans got a run back in the top of the fifth when Vercoe knocked in Alex Emeterio. UNCG missed a chance for more, though, failing to score another run despite loading the bases with just one out.
Six different players accounted for Marshall’s six hits.
Katie Murphree (3-2) picked up the win in the circle, allowing three runs ? two earned ? on six hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts in seven innings.
Against Ball State (1-0) later in the day, the Spartans spent much of the game playing from behind.
After the Cardinals’ Alyssa Collins knocked in a run in the bottom of the first, Ball State added two more on a UNCG fielding error with two outs in the bottom of the second.
The Spartans would tie the game with a trio of runs in the top of the third, stringing together back-to-back-to-back hits with two outs. After Lyndsay Mouse singled to lead off and stole second, Ball State pitcher Elizabeth Milian got a pair of strikeouts. But Emeterio singled to drive in Mouse and Vercoe followed with a single to bring in Emeterio before Merkt’s triple scored Vercoe to knot the score.
The Cardinals reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning, as UNCG starter Amber Harrell loaded the bases with three straight walks to open the inning. Harrell nearly worked out of the jam by striking out the next two batters, but Natalie Bejarano came through with a two-run single to put Ball State back on top to stay.
Ball State added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on Lisa Rozanski’s two-run double, but UNCG responded with two runs of its own in the top of sixth on Brittany Ausley’s two-run single.
UNCG brought the tying run to the plate in the top of seventh, as Vercoe doubled with one out. Milian worked out of trouble, however, getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the game.
Harrell dropped to 2-3 after allowing seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits and seven walks in six innings. She struck out six. Milian (1-0) struck out 14 for the Cardinals, picking up the win by allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walks in seven innings.
In addition to Vercoe’s 2-for-4 effort, Emeterio and Mouse both went 2-for-3 for the Spartans.
Allie Pennock and Collins were both 2-for-3 for the Cardinals.
UNCG returns to action at the Sixth Annual Georgia Softball Classic at 9 a.m. Saturday against Tennessee State.
Maine 6, Western Carolina 0
CONWAY, S.C. ? Western Carolina softball (1-5) dropped its opening game, 6-0 to Maine, at the Coastal Carolina Kickin’ Chicken Classic Friday.
Maine jumped out to an early 2-0 lead scoring two runs in first inning then proceeded to score a run in the fourth and three in the fifth. The Catamounts had runners in scoring position three times in the game but just couldn’t push a run across the plate.
Sophomore Chere Monday started the game and took the loss, falling to 0-2, lasting 3.1 innings giving up three runs on three hits and striking out two. Freshman Katie King relieved her and completed the game, giving up three runs, allowing four hits and striking out four.
Western Carolina had just two hits in the game. Senior Stephanie Beatty had a single and fellow senior Beth Hauser hit a double.
Western Carolina returns to action Saturday facing Virginia Tech in the second day of action at the tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m.
James Madison 2, Chattanooga 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. --- Despite a solid pitching effort from Michelle Fuzzard (1-3), the Chattanooga softball team (5-8) lost 2-0 Friday night to James Madison (8-3) in the first day of the Gamecock Invitational. With the loss the Lady Mocs have now lost six of its last seven contests.
In the loss, Fuzzard threw a complete-game four-hitter. She allowed two runs, both unearned, and struck out five.
Even with Fuzzard’s strong outing in the circle, James Madison’s Meredith Felts (2-1) was even better. Felts kept the Lady Mocs’ offense at bay, allowing only two hits, walked one and struck out eight for the complete-game shutout.
The two UTC hits, both singles, came from a Tiffany Baker single through the left side in the second and an infield hit by Lyndsey Stiles in the fourth.
The only scoring in the contest came in the fifth inning as the Dukes were able to capitalize on critical UTC miscues. With one out and no runners on, Kaitlyn Wernsing reached first on a muffed throw by Baker. Fuzzard was then able to retire Ashley Burnham on a pop-up to shortstop.
Shannon Moxey would keep the inning alive for JMU with a flare down the leftfield line, putting runners at first and second. Amber Kirk made the error hurt with a ringing double into right, scoring Wernsing and Moxey.
Chattanooga would be unable to mount a comeback though, as the Lady Mocs were retired in order from the fifth inning on. Felts ended the game retiring the last 12 batters in a row.
UTC will continue the Gamecock Invitational on Saturday with a pair of contests. The Lady Mocs will begin the day with an 11 a.m. game against Troy and will wrap up the afternoon against the host South Carolina at 3 p.m.