Elon 3, UNC Greensboro 0
ELON, N.C. - Powered by a three-run fourth, the Elon softball team ended its regular season with a 3-0 win over UNC Greensboro under cloudy skies Sunday afternoon at East Field. The win allowed the Phoenix to improve to an overall record of 15-31 that includes a 6-15 mark in SoCon play. UNCG falls to 24-31 overall and 9-12 in the Southern Conference.
Leading the way for the Phoenix was Danielle Lafferty who drove in two runs for the Phoenix on one-for-two hitting. Jaimie Rao recorded two hits and scored once.
Elon starter Erin O’Shea issued three walks in the top of the first inning, but got out of the bases loaded jam by getting the final batter to pop up to Ashlee Crewe at first.
Rao opened the bottom of the second inning with a double to deep left center. With two outs, Lauren Taylor drew a walk to put runners at first and second. The Phoenix was unable to advance the runners, as the final batter was retired on a popup to second.
The Spartans threatened in the top of the third with a walk by Lyndsay Mouse and a single by Jordan Jewett to put runners at first and second. O’Shea set down the next three batters, including two strikeouts, to end the inning before a Spartan run could score.
Elon posted three runs in the bottom of the fourth to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Patti Weber led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Rao beat out the throw from Emily Akiyama at third for a single that put two one. Crewe followed with a hit that dropped into shallow center for a single to load the bases. With two outs, Lafferty worked the count until she singled, scoring Weber and Rao to give Elon a 2-0 lead. Lafferty moved to second on the throw home that put runners and second and third. Hannah Shelton scored Crewe with a single for the final run of the inning.
Kaitlin Merkt led off the sixth inning with a single, but was left stranded at first as the final three batters were retired in order to end the inning.
Jacqueline Gonzalez made a pair of stellar defensive grabs and fielded a routine popup in the top of the seventh to seal the 3-0 shutout.
Erin O’Shea pitched a gem to pick up the win and improve to 7-10 on the season. Hurling a complete game, she scattered just four hits and struck out four batters. She also issued five walks. Cory Mattson suffered the loss to fall to 3-7 on the season. She allowed three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings of work. Also seeing time in the circle for the Spartans was Amber Harrell who allowed just one hit and four strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
The Phoenix will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the 2009 Southern Conference Championship this week. The Phoenix will face Western Carolina at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning in a single-elimination game play-in game. It will be the first time that the teams have faced off this season, as the regular-season series was cancelled because of rain.
Georgia Southern 4, Furman 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern softball team (25-23, 14-10) won their final regular season game and took the Furman series with a 4-3 win Sunday at Eagle Field.
Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) came up big in her final home game, hitting a walk-off double in the seventh inning to give the Eagles the series win. Michelle Beasley (Metter, Ga.) led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on Nina Iduate's (Norcross, Ga.) sacrifice bunt. Siliga came to the plate with two outs and drilled a 3-1 pitch off the wall in right center, driving in the winning run.
“It was their last chance to shine on their home field, and they stepped up and got the job done,” said head coach Maggie Johnson. Johnson also became the first GSU softball coach to post a winning regular season record in his/her first year at the helm.
Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) went three for four with a run scored and recorded three straight base hits to start the game.
Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) battled back to earn her third win of the season after allowing two runs on three hits in relief of Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.). “She [Smith] came in and got the job done and did not get frustrated after allowing the runs. She is a fighter and kept at it,” said Johnson. Streetmon started the game and allowed only two hits and a run.
The Paladins scored first on a solo home run by Brythe Blankenship in the second inning. The Eagles tied the game in the third inning. Iduate singled to start the inning and moved to second on Fogle's second base hit of the afternoon. Amanda Hall (Haddock, Ga.) drove in the run with a two-out single to left field.
GSU took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on Beasley's RBI single to left. Smith walked with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.). Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.) moved Smith to third with a single to left before Beasley's base hit drove in the run.
Furman retook the lead in the fifth, scoring a pair of runs on two hits. Meredith Mielke was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on Katie Michaels' base hit. Stephanie Field moved both runners along with a sacrifice bunt, and Stephanie Cushing plated the runners with a two-out base hit.
The Eagles tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth, scoring a run on three hits. Fogle reached base with one out on her third base hit of the day. Hall and Russo produced back-to-back hits with two outs, driving in Fogle from second.
Softball starts conference tournament play Wednesday in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Eagles will be the #4 seed and will face Furman again at 5:00 p.m.
College of Charleston 10, Chattanooga 7
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Senior designated hitter Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs and redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) tied the program record with three steals as the College of Charleston (23-24, 14-9) defeated Chattanooga (26-22, 15-5) 10-7 in the finale of their Southern Conference series. The victory locks up the No. 2 seed for the Cougars in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament. It is the third time in four seasons they have accomplished that feat.
Chattanooga jumped ahead early as sophomore centerfielder Lyndsey Stiles led off the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore first baseman Michelle Fuzzard to make the score 1-0. It would not stay that way long as the Cougars responded in the bottom of the inning with a tying home run from senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) and took the lead, 2-1, on an RBI single from Howard.
It was the Lady Mocs turn to answer in the top of the second as they exploded for four runs on four hits to take a 5-2 lead. UTC used a pair of run scoring singles, a bases loaded walk and a fielder’s choice to score their runs. Charleston used a different approach the following inning as they used a combination of four hits and a pair of walks to score four runs of their own.
That frame, Howard lined a two RBI double while sophomore first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) singled home a run and sophomore outfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.) took a bases loaded walk for the other run to give CofC a 6-5 lead. UTC tied the game at 6-6 in the fourth inning, however, as senior third baseman Toni Hutchison drew a bases loaded walk of her own.
Howard then helped make sure that the Lady Mocs would not have another comeback as she drilled a two-run home run to highlight another four-run inning, this time in the bottom of the fourth. That shot tied her career-high for a single season with eight.
Junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Amber Shifflett accounted for the other runs in the inning as they each had an RBI singles. The score would stay that way until the top of the seventh inning when freshman Jenni Martin drilled a pinch hit home run over the left field fence with two outs to reach the final margin.
Sophomore first baseman Michelle Fuzzard led Chattanooga with a 2-for-3, two RBI day while Stiles finished 1-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and two walks. Junior Kaity Kelley, freshman shortstop Jessica Traxler, Martin and Hutchison each added an RBI to round out the offensive attack. Sophomore Kandice Irwin started and threw six innings, allowing six hits, six runs and five walks to take the loss and fall to 8-11.
Howard had one of her best days of the season as she led Charleston with a 3-for-4, five-RBI day that included her eighth home run while Amber Shifflett went 3-for-3 with three runs and a program record tying three steals. That mark ties the record held by Brooke Flowers (4/14/01), Brooke Fuller (3/14/98) and Stephanie Owens (4/24/01).
Kotchman belted her second home run of the season and went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs while Nutaitis was 2-for-4 with an RBI single. In the pitching circle, Howard threw six innings of relief, allowing five hits and three runs to earn her second victory of the weekend on move to 7-11 on the year.
With the victory, the College of Charleston secured the No. 2 seed in the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament and will face No. 7 Samford at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. The tournament will be held in Chattanooga, Tenn. and run from May 6-9.
N.C. State 6, Appalachian State 1
RALEIGH, N.C. - Lindsay Campana allowed just five Appalachian State hits to lead NC State to a 6-1 win over ASU Sunday afternoon in Raleigh.
The Mountaineers close out the regular-season with a 25-27 record and will be the third seed in the Southern Conference tournament. With the win the Wolfpack improve to 23-24.
NC State grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Alyssa Ishibashi hit a two-run homer down the left field line. The score remained 2-0 until the Wolfpack tacked on four runs in the sixth inning. All four runs came with two outs, the big blow being a two-run double by Allison Presnell.
Appalachian got on the board in the seventh when Morgan Price drove in Katie Boyd with a single to center field. That would be all the runs the Mountaineers could manage on the day.
Kayla Richardson took the loss, allowing nine hits while striking out four. The four strikeouts ties the single-season school record for strikeouts in a season with 143.
ASU will play UNC Greensboro in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament on Wednesday. The tournament will be held in Chattanooga, Tenn. and game time will be announced as soon as possible.