Chattanooga 2, Georgia Southern 1; Chattanooga 5, Georgia Southern 4
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- For the third straight season, the Chattanooga softball team will finish the season atop the Southern Conference standings. On Saturday the Lady Mocs (25-19, 14-2 SoCon) swept Georgia Southern (22-21, 11-9 SoCon) in a doubleheader to capture the program’s 11th SoCon title, winning 2-1 and 5-4.
Michelle Fuzzard had a big day for UTC, driving in two clutch runs and going 3-for-4 with two walks. Kaiti Kelley was also big for the Lady Mocs, recording four hits and two runs for a team that has now won nine straight conference games.
Game 1 of the twin bill featured a pitcher’s duel between UTC’s Brooke Loudermilk and GSU’s Breanna Streetmon. The two combined for nine strikeouts and allowed only three runs and six hits.
Loudermilk (6-1) was unhittable for a majority of the contest as the junior threw six innings of no-hit softball. Her bid for a no-no was denied however as Nina Induate led off the seventh with a double into left-center.
Streetmon (13-7) was just as solid early on in the game as the southpaw did not allow a Lady Moc until a Kelley single in the bottom of the fourth.
Chattanooga was finally able to break through in the bottom of the sixth with some help from the Eagle defense. Michelle Fuzzard led off the frame getting hit by a pitch and Tiffany Baker followed with a double into left-center to put runners at second and third with no one out.
After a Toni Hutchison walk loaded the bases, Brittany Eason hit a grounder to Robyne Siliga at third, but Siliga’s throw home was wild, allowing two Lady Mocs to score. Streetmon would settle down though, as the lefty retired the next three UTC batters in order to halt the Chattanooga rally.
In the seventh, Georgia Southern was not going down without a fight as the Eagles led off the inning with Iduate’s double. With a runner on second, Loudermilk hunkered down to retire the next two GSU hitters. Magen Smith then stepped to the plate for Georgia Southern and put the Eagles on the board with a single through the infield, followed by a base hit by Amanda Hall.
With two on and two outs, Loudermilk extinguished the GSU rally, getting Jenny Side to ground out.
Game 2 began much like the first, as both pitchers were strong early on. Fuzzard and Kristan Glover held the opposing offenses without a run in the first two innings.
In the third, Chattanooga was able to strike first thanks to a two-out single from Fuzzard, which scored Kelley.
In the next half inning, the Eagles were able to tie the game with the aid of a Sam Russo sacrifice fly.
After relief pitcher Kandice Irwin (7-10) held GSU scoreless in the fifth, the UTC offense was finally able to break through against Glover (6-4).
In the frame, the Lady Mocs batted around and had four runs thanks to five hits. The scoring began with Fuzzard’s second RBI single of the contest, followed by a sacrifice fly from Baker.
With the score 3-1, UTC was not through as Toni Hutchison and Jenni Martin each drove in a run to give the Lady Mocs a 5-1 lead.
Georgia Southern was not done however, despite the four run deficit. In the sixth, the Eagles were able to cut the Chattanooga lead in half with RBI singles from Amanda Hall and Megen Smith.
After the Lady Mocs failed to score in the bottom of the sixth, despite loading the bases, the Eagles came to the plate looking for one last chance for a win.
The inning began well for Georgia Southern as Amanda Glover led off with a solo homer of Loudermilk, who entered the game in relief during the sixth. After Glover’s homer, Hanna Ennis continued the rally with a ringing double into left-center.
Kaity Holloway then entered the game for UTC and the first batter she face, Marie Fogle, had an infield single to put runners on first and third with no one out. That would be all Holloway would allow though as the next batter, Iduate, grounded to short and Jessica Traxler threw out pinchrunner Caitlin Hart at the plate. From there, the righty got Siliga to fly out to short and Sam Russo then fouled out to third for her third save of the season.
The Lady Mocs will now be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament, which begins on May 6 from Jim Frost Stadium.
The team will wrap up its series with Georgia Southern on Sunday at 2 p.m., from Jim Frost Stadium.
Elon 2, Samford 1; Samford 6, Elon 5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team split its doubleheader with Elon Saturday as it lost the first game by a score of 2-1 but bounced back with a 6-5 win in the second game.
Samford (17-25, 9-14 SoCon) and Elon (14-27, 5-12 SoCon) will close out the conference season Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.
Freshman pitcher Robyn Harmon (2-1) scored Samford’s only run in the first game of the day with her first career home run. She then lifted the Bulldogs over the Phoenix in the second game with her two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to win the game while also grabbing her second win of the season at the pitcher’s circle.
Robyn Harmon and Kylie Harmon had Samford’s only two hits of the first game, each going 1-for-3 at the plate. Amanda Barrs (3-13) pitched five innings and took the loss for the Bulldogs after giving up two runs on five hits and walking four batters. Kayla Burris came in for an inning of relief, recording two strikeouts and giving up one hit before Stephanie Royall pitched the final inning and recorded one strikeout.
Jaimie Rao and Hannah Shelton led the Phoenix in the first game, each going 1-for-2. Melanie Helterbran had both of Elon’s RBI while going 1-for 3 at the plate. Erin O’Shea (5-9) pitched five innings and gave up one run on two hits while striking out five. Helterbran pitched the final two innings, recording two strikeouts and earning the save for the Phoenix.
Samford plated its first run of the day in the bottom of the fourth inning of the first game. Robyn Harmon blasted a shot over the left field fence to record her first career homerun and put the Bulldogs on the board. However, Elon answered back in the top of the sixth when Danielle Lafferty and Ashlee Crewe scored on a hit by Helterbran to left field.
Katie England and Kylie Harmon led the Bulldogs in the second game, each going 2-for-3 while England logged one RBI. Barrs, Jessica Owens, Amy Gonzalez and Amanda Jordan were all 1-for-3 at the plate with Barrs, Gonzalez and Jordan grabbing one RBI each. Robyn Harmon was 1-for-4 but was the hero of the game with a two-run homer to win.
Elon jumped out to an early lead, putting three runs on the board in the top of the first inning. With one out and runners on the corners, Kaitlyn Piazzolla singled to left field to score Jacqueline Gonzalez. Rao then stepped up to bat and singled to load the bases before Helterbran singled to bring in Piazzolla and Ashlee Crewe.
Samford finally got on the board and cut the Phoenix lead to one in the bottom of the second inning. With one on and two outs, Gonzalez doubled to center field to score Owens before Jordan singled up the middle to bring in Gonzalez.
The Bulldogs took a one-point lead after shutting out Elon in the top of the third and scoring two in the bottom of the inning. Kylie Harmon led off and reached base on an error by Elon’s third baseman Patti Weber. Robyn Harmon stepped up to the plate and Kylie stole second on the first pitch, but Robyn flied out to left field to put one out on the board. Lawrence then grounded out before Barrs doubled to bring Kylie Harmon home. England followed up with a double of her own to bring in Barrs and the Bulldogs went up, 4-3.
In the top of the fifth, Elon responded and took the lead back. Weber led off with a walk before Crewe reached base on a hit batsman. Piazzolla singled to load the bases before Helterbran batted in Weber to tie the game. Pam DelPizzo reached on a fielder’s choice and Crewe scored on an error by Samford’s catcher Jordan to take a 5-4 lead.
Robyn Harmon was brought in to relieve Royall and the freshman pitcher shut out the Phoenix in the final two innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Fisher led off and grounded out to third base before Kylie Harmon reached on a hit batsman. Robyn Harmon then stepped up to the plate and hit her second career home run, and her second of the day, to bring in the tying and winning runs.
Samford and Elon will close out regular-season conference play Sunday with the final game of the series at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs will honor their three seniors ? Kylie Harmon, Kristy Lawrence and Jessica Owens ? prior to first pitch.
Furman 2, Western Carolina 1; Furman 5, Western Carolina 0
Greenville, S.C. -- Hannah Bradley and Stephanie Mihaly combined on a three-hit shutout as Furman blanked Western Carolina 5-0 to complete a Southern Conference softball doubleheader sweep of the Catamounts Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. The Paladins notched a 2-1 victory in game one.
With the sweep, Furman improved to 19-25 overall and 9-10 in the SoCon while Western Carolina slipped to 11-30 overall and 7-13 in the league.
Bradley scattered three hits over two innings before Mihaly tossed five no-hit innings of relief to improve to 8-5 in the circle. The Seneca, S.C., product fanned two and issued just one walk on the day.
The Furman offense provided a five-run first inning to give the Paladins control early. Stephanie Field and Abby Robertson drew walks to start the frame and Stephanie Cushing loaded the bases with a single. Morgan Hughey followed with a double down the left field line to plate two runs and Kate Termini followed a sacrifice fly by Lana Mackey by doubling to left field to score Hughey.
Meredith Mielke capped the five-run inning with a double off of the centerfielder’s glove to score Termini.
Mielke went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI while Hughey collected two RBIs in the game one victory. Starter Chere Monday (0-3) was tagged with the loss after surrendering five runs on four hits in just 2/3 innings of work.
In game one, Mackey (10-12) tossed a complete game allowing just one run on five hits while fanning eight Catamounts to earn the 2-1 victory.
Furman took a 1-0 lead in the fourth as Mackey drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice, advanced to third on a Jessie Homesley single and scored on Katie Michaels’ ground out. After WCU evened the game at 1-1 on Kristen Gay’s RBI single in the fifth, Furman answered with seventh-inning heroics. Field singled back through the middle to open the inning and moved to second on Robertson’s school-record 60th career sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Hughey legged out an infield single and shortstop Chelsea Schaffer’s throw to first was wild allowing Field to score the game-winning run.
Katie King (5-14) suffered the loss for Western Carolina. She allowed one earned run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The Paladins and Catamounts conclude the three-game weekend series with a single game on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
College of Charleston 7, UNC Greensboro 2; College of Charleston 2, UNC Greensboro 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? College of Charleston's Katie Forbes was 2-for-4 with four RBI in game one and had a hand in both Cougar runs in the seventh inning of game two as UNC Greensboro was swept in a Southern Conference doubleheader on Saturday, 7-2 and 2-1.
UNCG freshman Alex Emeterio hit a solo home run in game one's losing effort, blasting a ball off the base of the new Spartan statue beyond the center field fence. The hit was UNCG's lone safety of the game.
Freshman Cory Mattson (3-5) took the loss after surrendering five runs on five hits in 1.2 innings. Hannah Angel came on and worked 5.1 innings of solid relief, allowing two runs on two hits for the Spartans (19-28, 7-10 Southern Conference).
Terri Mesko (10-9) picked up the win for College of Charleston, allowing two runs on just one hit and three walks. She struck out eight.
The Cougars (20-23, 11-8 SoCon) jumped on the board with two runs in the top of the first, as Forbes sent a looping line drive off the glove of UNCG shortstop Kayla Hensley to bring in Amber Shifflett and Christal Kotchman.
CofC added another three runs in the second, starting with Kotchman's RBI single that scored Kristi Woodall. After a wild pitch moved Kotchman and Tiffany Harmon up a base each, Kristie Shifflett laced a double to right center to score them both and make the score 5-0.
Emeterio followed with her mammoth home run, her third of the season, to lead off the second inning, but that was the last hit UNCG would get in the game. That didn't stop the Spartans from scoring again, however, as UNCG used a Brittany Ausley walk and a College of Charleston error on a sacrifice attempt to put runners at the corners with no one out in the sixth. Mary Catherine Vercoe lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Ausley, making the score 7-2.
The Cougars got a two-run home run from Forbes in the top of the fifth inning. In addition to Forbes' two-hit effort, Amber Shifflett was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Game two was a pitchers’ duel that saw the Spartans in control for the majority of the contest before the Cougars rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh.
UNCG got on the board in the second inning to stake starter Amber Harrell to a one-run lead, but the Spartans would strand nine in the contest.
Down 1-0 heading into the seventh, Amber Shifflett got the Cougars going with a single through the right side. After Kristie Shifflett sacrificed her over and a groundout moved her to third, Amber Shifflett came in on Forbes’ double to the gap in left center to tie the game. Katie Nutaitis followed with a single through the right side to score Forbes with what would prove to be the winning run.
Despite Vercoe’s one-out single in the seventh, the Spartans could not find the answer as the game ended in odd fashion. Emeterio lifted a flyball to left, and pinch-runner Angel advanced on a close play at second. But College of Charleston appealed the call and Angel was called out, having been ruled to have left first base early.
The Spartans led for most of the game after Lyndsay Mouse led off the second with a double to left center and Whitney Sirois followed with a single to put runners at the corners with no one out. One out later, Kayla Hensley singled down the left field line to bring in Mouse with the first run of the game.
Harrell had outstanding defense behind her all game. After she got into trouble in the third with consecutive walks to lead off the frame, she got an inning-ending double play when Jordan Jewett chased down a flyball in shallow right and fired to third to nail Amanda Lonergan trying to advance.
Harrell retired the next nine batters she faced in order, but the Spartans were unable to scratch across another run in that span. Vercoe led off the bottom half of the third inning with a single to right, and Emeterio followed with a double off the wall in left center to chase Charleston starter Shannon Howard. Forbes then came in from right field and shut the door, sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a groundout to keep UNCG from adding on.
Forbes was solid the rest of the way, allowing just one base-runner in each of the remaining innings and benefitting from the Cougars’ rally to improve to 2-0. She allowed just three hits and a walk in five innings pitched.
Harrell, who saw her bid for her second shutout of the season fall just one out short, was saddled with her 12th loss of the season, falling to 5-12 despite allowing just two runs on four hits and a pair of walks.
The Spartans will wrap up their series against College of Charleston on Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday will also serve as UNCG’s Senior Day, and seniors Angel, Mouse, Vercoe and Leslie Furness will be honored before the game.
Appalachian State 18, N.C. Central 1; Appalachian State 8, N.C. Central 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University softball hit five homers as they swept North Carolina Central 18-1 and 8-0, both games in five innings Saturday afternoon at Southern High School in Durham.
The Mountaineers improved to 25-25 on the season, the latest in a season an Appalachian softball team has ever been .500 or better.
Lindsay Whitlock (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville) hit her first career home run and drove in four runs in game one while Sarah Rappe (Charlotte, N.C./Butler), Megan Rembielak (Advance,N.C./Bishop McGuinness), Katie Boyd (Walkertown, N.C./North Forsyth), Ashley Gaston (Alpharetta, Ga./Roswell) and Andrea McIntyre (Christiansburg, Va./Tallahassee C.C.) all had two hits in ASU's 18-1 game one win.
The Mountaineers broke the game open with a five-run third and put the game away with a seven-run seventh to invoke the eight-run rule.
Kayla Richardson (West Jefferson, N.C./Ashe County) picked up her 13th win of the season, allowing four hits while striking out two. Ashanti Stroud had two hits for the Eagles.
Morgan Price (Kannapolis, N.C./NW Cabarrus) had two hits and three RBI while Yancy Moose (Hamptonville, N.C./Starmount) hit her first career homer and drove in three runs to lead the Mountaineers to an 8-0 win in game two.
The Mountaineers scored four times in the first and added a run in the third when Boyd belted her 16th home run of the season. The Apps scored three in the fifth to invoke the run-rule again.
Price led off the inning with a homer to center field, and after a Whitlock walk Moose hit her homer over the center field fence.
Boyd, Price and Moose all had two hits for ASU. Ashley Stubbs (Balm, Fla./Newsome) earned the win for the Mountaineers allowing just two hits while striking out two.
The 26 combined runs are the most the Mountaineers have ever scored in a doubleheader and also set the single-season record for runs scored at 228. With her two walks, Boyd tied the Southern Conference record for walks in a season at 59.
Appalachian finishes the regular season off with a single game at Virginia Tech on Tuesday April 28 at 7 p.m.