Georgia State 9, Furman 5; Georgia State 6, Furman 5
Greenville, S.C. -- Georgia State used a six-run sixth inning to down Furman 9-5 in game two as the Panthers swept Furman in a non-conference softball doubleheader Wednesday at Bob Heck Field. The Panthers rallied past the Paladins 6-5 in eight innings in game one.
Georgia State improved to 19-14 on the season while Furman slipped to 13-22.
Leading 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers too advantage of a Furman error and three walks to plate six unearned runs. Rebecca Roles keyed the sixth inning outburst with a three-run double.
Roles went 3-for-4 with four RBI to pace the Panthers 10-hit attack and extend their winning streak to six games. Thomas earned the victory working 6 2/3 innings allowing five runs on nine hits.
Morgan Hughey went 3-for-4 with a double for the Paladins while Brythe Blankenship added a pair of doubles in the loss. Reliever Stephanie Mihaly suffered the loss for Furman allowing five runs, just one earned, on three hits in 2 1/3 innings.
In game one, Roles delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth to plate Natasha Berry as the Panthers rallied past Furman, 6-5.
After a runner was placed on second to start the eighth according to the international tiebreaker rule, Berry singled to tie the game at five before swiping second and scoring the winning run on Roles’ double.
Furman grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Hughey in the first inning. Georgia State’s Rachel Cunningham, 2-for-3 on the day, belted a three-run shot in the third inning to give the Panthers a 4-2 advantage. The Paladins tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth as Blankenship led off the frame with a solo blast and Kate Termini cracked her first career homer two batters later.
In the eighth, Abby Robertson singled to score Termini and give Furman a 5-4 lead before the Panthers plated two in the bottom of the frame.
Hannah Bradley (0-4) worked a career-high 7 1/3 innings, but suffered the loss for the Paladins. She allowed six runs on nine hits. Stephanie Field went 3-for-4 with a walk and run for the Paladins while Stephanie Cushing, Hughey and Blankenship each tallied two hits.
Erin Collins limited Furman to just an unearned run on two hits in three innings of relief to notch the victory for Georgia State.
Furman returns home to host the College of Charleston in a three-game Southern Conference series beginning with a Friday doubleheader at Pepsi Stadium followed by a single game on Saturday. First pitch on both days is set for 1 p.m.
Lipscomb 5, Chattanooga 3; Lipscomb 3, Chattanooga 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga softball team’s four-game winning streak was halted on Wednesday as the Lady Mocs (20-18) were swept in a doubleheader by Lipscomb (25-8), 5-3 and 3-1.
Lyndsey Stiles, Brittany Eason and Tiffany Baker were the leaders hitters for Chattanooga in the two games as both recorded two hits in six at bats. Baker accounted for three of the Lady Mocs’ runs with her team-leading ninth home run of the season in the first game. She also drove in the team’s only run in the nightcap on a RBI single.
In the Game 1, the Lady Mocs’ potent offense was stymied through the early stages of the contest by Lipscomb pitcher Whitney Kiihnl (11-5). The right hander allowed only one hit through five innings as UTC only had four in the game.
Kandice Irwin (6-10) took the loss after starting strong, but was touched up for four earned runs through four and one-thirds of an inning. The righty shut down the Lipscomb offense through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
The Bisons were able to get on the board first in the game thanks to a solo home run by Abby Keese in the fourth inning.
After Kiihnl retired UTC in order, the Lipscomb offense was able to push across four more runs off four hits and a Chattanooga error. The inning began with a Caroline Mason single and a stolen base to put a runner on second with no outs. After a sacrifice bunt sent Mason to third, she would score a batter later on a fielder’s choice.
With a 2-0 lead, Lipscomb then proceeded to pound out three straight singles to give the Bisons a four run advantage. Irwin was then pulled for Michelle Fuzzard. Fuzzard was able to get the first batter she faced to pop up, but an error by Jessica Traxler allowed the batter to reach and another run to score.
Down 5-0, the Chattanooga offense finally awoke in the sixth with the help of the top of its lineup. The inning began with a leadoff walk to Stiles, who scored two batters later on a stand-up double by Fuzzard. Baker stepped up the plate next and cut the Bisons’ lead in half with a two-run shot to rightfield.
That would be all the offense the Lady Mocs’ bats could muster however as Kiihnl did not allow another UTC run.
In the nightcap, Loudermilk (4-1) took to the circle for Chattanooga and was strong for the Lady Mocs.
Tiffany Baker scored Game 2’s first run with a single into leftfield. Baker’s hit brought in Stiles, who reached base on a base hit of her own..
Both offenses were quieted until the bottom of the fourth when Lipscomb was able to plate its first run of the game thanks to a Chattanooga error. With a runner on third and two outs, Mollie Mitchell hit a tapper back to Loudermilk. The pitcher’s throw was wild though, allowing the runner to score from third, thus tying the game.
Lipscomb would add another run in the fifth off the bat of Courtney Billington. With two outs, the rightfielder hit a stand-up triple to right-center, bringing in Lauren Dortwegt to give the Bisons a 2-1 lead.
The lead would be insurmountable for UTC as the Lady Mocs’ bats were unable to put another run on the board as Lipscomb swept the twin bill with a 3-1 victory in Game 2.
The Lady Mocs will now turn their eyes back to conference play as the team will host Appalachian State this weekend for a three-game series.
Game 1 will be on Friday, Apr. 10 at 6 p.m. and the teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon.
No. 4 Alabama 11, Samford 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team dropped its midweek match-up with No. 4-ranked Alabama Wednesday night. The Bulldogs put one up in the first inning but the Crimson Tide tacked on 11 straight to take the win in the five-inning evening game.
“I think overall, despite the loss, we played well tonight,” Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham said. “One way I can tell that this program is going in the right direction is that, over the years when we’ve come here to play, we’ve been more and more composed each time.”
Samford (11-20, 5-10 SoCon) struck the first blow in the first inning as sophomore Aaren Fisher homered to left center with one out to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead to start the game. Kristy Lawrence then singled to right field and advanced to third on an error by Alabama right fielder Jazlyn Lunceford. However, the Crimson Tide retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Alabama (32-6) knocked off back-to-back singles before Samford pitcher Amanda Barrs struck out Lunceford looking. Tide first baseman Cassie Reilly-Bocca then stepped up and rattled off a double to bring in the two runners and give Alabama the 2-1 lead.
After a scoreless second inning on both parts, Alabama put five runs on the board in the bottom of the third. Jennifer Fenton led off with a walk before stealing second. Brittany Rogers then singled to advance Fenton to third. Bocca then singled and advanced to third on an error by Samford right fielder Rachael Reeves which brought two runs in. With one out, Bocca scored on a fielder’s choice before Burris came on in relief for Barrs. Another run was brought in with Cat Dozier singled down the left field line before the Bulldogs were able to get out of the inning with back-to-back ground outs.
Alabama tacked on four more in the bottom of the fourth while holding the Bulldogs scoreless as the Crimson Tide went on to win, 11-1.
Samford totaled four hits on the night scoring on Fisher’s first-inning homerun. Fisher was 2-for-2 while Kylie Harmon and Lawrence both grabbed hits as well. Alabama scored its 11 runs on nine hits.
Amanda Locke (7-0) was the winning pitcher for the Tide, pitching a complete five innings. She gave up just one run on four hits while striking out four batters.
Amanda Barrs (2-10) took the loss for the Bulldogs, lasting just two and one-third innings before being relieved by Burris. Barrs gave up seven runs on five hits while striking out three batters and walking three. Burris came in for one inning, giving up two runs on two hits before Stephanie Royall came in to close, giving up two runs on two hits as well.
“Aaren (Fisher) coming out with that homer in the first inning was big for us,” Ketcham said. “It gave us that boost that we needed. I thought our pitchers did well and there were definitely things tonight that we can build on.”
The Bulldogs will be back on the road this weekend, April 10-11, as they travel to UNC Greensboro and jump back into conference play. The two teams will meet in a doubleheader on Friday and close out with a single game on Saturday.