Western Carolina 9, Georgia Southern 8; Western Carolina 7, Georgia Southern 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Georgia Southern softball team (13-14, 4-4) dropped Saturday's doubleheader to Western Carolina (6-14, 2-2). The Eagles had a late fifth inning lead but lost 9-8 in game one and 7-2 in game two.
Game One
Softball took a late fifth inning lead but was unable to hold on and lost 9-8 in game one of the Western Carolina doubleheader.
Eagles’ Sam Russo (Snellville, Ga.) and Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) both drove in three runs. Russo went three for four with a run scored. Hall added two hits including a fifth inning double.
The Eagles took the fifth inning lead with five runs on five hits. Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) started the one-out rally with a base hit. Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) singled, and Siliga walked to load the bases. Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) came up first pitch swinging and drove in two runs with a double into the left center gap. Russo drove in two more runs with her third base hit of the game. Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) drove in the fifth run with a RBI double to left. Smith went two for four in game one.
The Catamounts struck first scoring two runs in the third inning on four hits. Keri Burnside and Danielle Reese led off with back-to-back base hits. Chelsea Schaffer plated Burnside with a RBI single. Kristen Gay scored the second run of the inning on Amber Hawkins' base knock.
The two teams exchanged runs in the fourth. The Eagles scored two runs in the top half of the fourth before Western Carolina responded with two runs in their half of the inning. Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) led off the fourth with a base hit and scored on Sam Russo's (Snellville, Ga.) double. Amanda Glover (Evans, Ga.) plated Russo on a RBI fielder's choice for the second run of the inning.
Western Carolina retook the lead with two runs on four hits in the bottom half of the fourth. Chelsea Schaffer drove in both runs with a two-RBI base hit scoring Burnside and Reese.
They added four more runs in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring four runs after loading the bases. Reese drove in a pair of runs with a triple to right. Reese went three for three with a run scored.
Georgia Southern tied the game in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Hall. Iduate scored the tying run after leading off the inning with a double.
Amber Hawkins walked and scored the winning run in the bottom half of the sixth, scoring on an error by the left fielder.
Game Two
Western Carolina got out to an early 5-0 lead and held on to win 7-2 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. The Catamounts evened their conference record with the win.
Lauren Ross pitched a complete game allowing no earned runs on seven hits.
Western Carolina scored five runs in the first two innings and took an early 5-0 lead on two home runs. Mollie Fowler drove in two runs in the first inning on her first homer of the game. Danielle Reese plated three more runs with a drive to center--her second of the season.
The Eagles got on the board in the third scoring two runs on a pair of hits. Iduate drove in the first run of the inning with a RBI double. The Norcross native came around to score on Hall's RBI base hit.
Fowler led off the bottom half of the third with her second home run of the game.
The Catamounts added another run after the lead-off walk came around to score on Brittany Barrineau's RBI single.
Kristan Glover (Evans, Ga.) pitched five innings in relief allowing four hits and only two runs.
Michelle Beasley (Metter, Ga.) added two hits going two for three from the seventh spot in the order.
Softball returns to action Sunday in the final game of the series against the Catamounts.
Appalachian State 2, Elon 0; Appalachian State 11, Elon 3
BOONE, N.C.- Kayla Richardson pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings and Katie Boyd hit her eighth homer of the season to lead Appalachian State University softball over Elon 2-0 and 11-3 at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers move to 12-14 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon. The 12 wins already surpasses the win total from last season. Elon falls to 7-10 and 0-2 in the Southern Conference.
Richardson gave up just three hits in a complete game performance in game one, tying her career-high with 10 strikeouts. She has not allowed an earned run in her last 18 2/3 innings pitched.
Pam DelPizzo held ASU scoreless until the fifth When Boyd launched a home run over the left field fence to bring in Megan Rembielak with the only runs of the game.
Rembielak led the ASU offensive attack with two hits.
The Mountaineers jumped on Elon early in game two scoring four times in the second and two more in the second. After the Phoenix cut the lead to 6-3 in the fifth, ASU came back with four more runs in the fifth and ended it with an RBI single by Meagan Squartino in the sixth.
Ashley Stubbs earned her fifth win of the season, allowing three earned runs while striking out one.
Sarah Rappe led ASU with three hits and three runs scored while Boyd and Andrea McIntyre had two hits apiece. McIntyre hit her first home run of the season in the second inning for the Mountaineers.
Furman 2, UNC Greensboro 1; Furman 11, UNC Greensboro 7
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Katie Michaels delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in game one and Stephanie Cushing capped a five-run rally in the seventh inning of game two with a walk-off grand slam to give the Furman a 2-1, 11-7 doubleheader sweep of UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference softball action Saturday at Pepsi Stadium.
Furman, winners of six of its last eight games, improved to 10-15 overall and 2-3 in SoCon play. UNCG fell to 9-14 overall and 2-3 in the league.
With Furman trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two, Jessie Homesley opened the frame with a base on balls and moved into scoring position on Meredith Mielke’s sacrifice bunt. Katie Michaels sliced a single down the left field line to plate Homesley and knot the game at 7-7. Stephanie Field reached on an infield single and Abby Robertson loaded the bases when the Spartan third baseman mishandled a ground ball. Cushing followed by belting a grand slam over the center field fence to cap the rally and give the Paladins an 11-7 victory.
Freshman Stephanie Mihaly (4-2) earned the win working six innings of relief. She allowed three runs on seven hits while recording two strikeouts. UNCG’s Amber Harrell (3-7) was tagged with the loss surrendering seven earned runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings in the circle.
The Spartans took a 4-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Lyndsay Mouse belted a solo homer, and after UNCG loaded the bases with the help of a Paladin error, Kristen Gabel lined a three-run triple down the right field line.
Down 5-0 in the third, Furman loaded the bases with nobody out and Lana Mackey singled to left to get the Paladins on the board. Homesley’s ground out plated a second run and Mielke added a sacrifice fly to trim the margin to 5-3.
After Mouse upped the Spartan lead to 6-3 with an RBI single in the top of the fourth, Cushing reached on a two-out error and Morgan Hughey followed with a base on balls in the bottom of the frame. Junior Brythe Blankenship then tied the game at 6-6 with a three-run blast to left field, her first of the season.
UNCG regained the lead at 7-6 in the top of the sixth inning. Emily Akiyama tagged up from first on a fly ball to left and a wild throw by Cushing that sailed down the right field line allowed the Spartans third baseman to come all the way around to score.
Cushing went 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs to pace the Paladins while Blankenship scored two runs and drove in three. Mouse, Akiyama and Mary Catherine Vercoe each collected two hits for UNCG.
In game one, junior Lana Mackey tossed a one-hitter and fanned eight Spartans to lead Furman to a 2-1 triumph.
With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh, Homesley reached on an error by UNCG pitcher Hannah Angel and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mielke’s sacrifice bunt attempt was misplayed at third to give Furman runners at first and third before Michaels lofted a fly to center that scored Homesley with the game-winning run.
Furman had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on Blankenship’s sacrifice fly before UNCG answered with a run by Mouse on a Vercoe grounder.
Mackey improved to 5-7 in the circle while Angel dropped to 5-6 after allowing two runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. Cushing went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Paladins.
Furman and UNC Greensboro conclude the three-game series with a single game on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Chattanooga 6, Samford 3; Chattanooga 1, Samford 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Behind stellar pitching and more clutch hitting, the Chattanooga softball team kept on rolling to its seventh and eighth straight victories with a two-game sweep of Samford on Saturday. With the victories, Frank Reed captured wins No. 299 and 300 as the head coach at Chattanooga.
“To get to 300 wins, that means you are pretty old,” Reed said jokingly. “It means I have been apart of 300 victories for a program that I care a lot about, and that means a lot to me.”
The Lady Mocs (14-11/5-0 SoCon) bested the Bulldogs (8-15/2-6 SoCon) 6-3 in Game 1 thanks to a three-run, walk-off home run by Tiffany Baker, her second game-ending dinger of the season. In Game 2, UTC was led by Michelle Fuzzard, who threw a three-hit, complete-game shutout as Chattanooga completed the sweep, 1-0.
With the doubleheader sweep, the Lady Mocs now sit a game-and-a-half above Appalachian State for first place in the Southern Conference.
In the twin bill’s first game, Brooke Loudermilk toed the rubber for UTC. The junior allowed her first earned run of the season in the first inning thanks to a RBI double by Amanda Barrs to put Samford up 1-0.
Barrs (2-6) was also the pitcher for the Bulldogs in the contest and kept the Lady Mocs’ offense quiet until the third inning. With two outs and no runners on, Toni Hutchison kept the inning alive with a single into centerfield. Jenni Martin would drive in Hutchison on the very next pitch with a ringing double into left-centerfield.
Chattanooga took the lead in the next inning with another RBI double, this time by Lyndsey Stiles.
The Bulldogs did not lie down however, putting up a run apiece in the fifth and sixth inning. Samford received a lot of help from the UTC defense, which committed four errors in the contest.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Chattanooga staged another rally via the RBI double. Tia Blosser, who had three of the team’s errors, atoned in a big way with a liner into right field that brought in Lauren Flores.
After both teams failed to score in the seventh and Samford was held scoreless in the eighth, the Lady Mocs began to stage another late rally.
Kaiti Kelley led off the frame with her second hit of the afternoon. Stiles then put Kelley in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After a Blosser lineout and a Fuzzard walk, Baker stepped to the plate with another chance for a walk-off. The sophomore did not disappoint, sending Barrs’s 2-0 offering over the wall in left-center.
This was Baker’s second homer of the walk-off variety of the season as she gave the Lady Mocs a 7-5 victory over Campbell on Feb. 6.
Kandice Irwin (5-6) picked up the victory for UTC, throwing two inning of relief. Irwin dominated the Samford bats, striking out five of the seven batters she faced.
In Game 2, Chattanooga was able to ride the right arm of Fuzzard (5-4) all the way as the sophomore went the distance, allowing only three hits in the contest.
UTC had plenty of opportunities to get on the board as the team left eight runners on the bags. The Lady Mocs were able to put its lone run across in the second inning with a RBI single by Stiles, her first of two hits in the contest.
In the seventh, Fuzzard retired Samford in order to give Chattanooga its eighth victory in a row.
The team will go for nine wins in a row and a sweep of the Bulldogs on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Jim Frost Stadium.