College of Charleston 17, Western Carolina 3
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Freshman outfielder Kristy Giragosian's (Charlotte, N.C.) career-high three RBIs and junior outfielder Kristi Woodall's (Huntersville, N.C.) three RBI day helped lead the College of Charleston (15-18, 5-6) to a convincing 17-3 victory over Western Carolina (5-32, 1-13) in the final game of a Southern Conference softball series. CofC pounded out a season-high 17 runs on 16 hits, which was one shy of their season-best.
The Cougars jumped out in front early as redshirt-senior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) drew a leadoff walk and advanced on a sacrifice before senior designated hitter Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) laced an RBI single to right center to make it 1-0. Redshirt-junior catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) singled in the next at bat to put runners on first and third. With two outs, CofC benefited from an overthrow at third base that resulted in both runners coming around to score.
Trailing 3-0, Western Carolina earned a leadoff walk from freshman outfielder Jordan Fulton, who then stole second and advanced to third on a single to short by freshman third baseman Haley Pace. With one out, the Catamounts would get on the board on an inning ending double play as the batter lined out first to third and the runner at first got a late break from the bag. Fulton crossed the plate prior to the final out being made at second base, making it 3-1.
Another leadoff single, this one by sophomore third baseman Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.), and a two-base error on the following batter put runners on the corners with no outs. After a fly out and a steal by Forbes, Kristi Woodall lined a two-RBI double to the right centerfield gap for a 5-1 lead.
Pace then led off the fourth with a single and came around to score on a double by freshman first baseman Colby Liles to narrow the gap to 5-2. The Cougars responded quickly in the top of the fifth inning with back-to-back singles by sophomore outfielder Amanda Lonergan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Dillon to lead off the frame. Lonergan then scored on a ground out by Forbes and junior shortstop Hillary Stringer (Summerville, S.C.) pushed the lead to 7-2 with an RBI single up the middle.
The Catamounts pulled to within 7-3 on a two-out RBI triple by freshman shortstop Robyn Burnette the following inning but it would be as close as they would get. CofC exploded for ten runs over the final two innings, pushing across seven on five hits in the seventh inning, to push to a 17-3 margin. In the seventh, the Cougars had RBI singles from Woodall, Lonergan, Giragosian, Stringer and a two-RBI single by Dillon.
Senior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) then wrapped up the victory with an easy bottom of the seventh for her eighth straight complete game.
Haley Pace led Western Carolina with a 2-for-3, one run day and Liles finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Burnette added the only other RBI for the Catamounts while senior catcher Danielle Reese went 2-for-3. Sophomore pitcher Katie King started and went two innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits to take the loss and drop to 1-17 on the season.
Amanda Lonergan tied her career-highs for hits and at bats with a 3-for-5, two-run, two-RBI performance for the College of Charleston while Woodall and Giragosian each delivered three RBIs. Woodall went 2-for-2 with a double, a pair of runs and two walks while Giragosian notched career-highs in hits and RBIs with a 2-for-2 day.
Kelley Dillon equaled her career mark in hits and set a new one for at bats with a 3-for-5 performance that included two RBIs, a pair of runs and a stolen base. Stringer posted a career day as she went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. All were career bests except for the at bats, which tied the most she has had. Kristie Shifflett finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Katie Forbes closed out the offensive production with an RBI.
In the pitching circle, Terri Mesko was dominant as she threw all seven innings, scattering seven hits and allowing three earned runs and a pair of walks, to pick up the win and improve to 7-7 on the season.
The College of Charleston closes out its five game road trip with a non-conference double-header at UNc Wilmington on Tuesday, April 13. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
NOTES
It is the most runs CofC has scored since a 17-0 victory over South Carolina State on March 10, 2007.
UNC Greensboro 3, Appalachian State 1
BOONE, N.C. - Senior Amber Harrell struck out 11 and allowed just an unearned run and freshman Heather Robb was 2-for-2 with a home run as UNC Greensboro downed Appalachian State on Sunday, 3-1, to secure the series win.
Alex Emeterio was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Spartans (17-21, 6-5 Southern Conference).
UNCG got off to a 2-0 lead after three innings. Robb got things going in the second, hitting a two-out single, and after Whitney Sirois reached on an error, Laura Olenderski brought Robb in with a single to right.
The Spartans added another run in the third, with Jordan Jewett reaching on an error and then stealing second. Emeterio then singled to right to drive in Jewett with UNCG's second run of the day.
UNCG missed a chance to add more, leaving the bases loaded in the inning. Kaitlin Merkt walked after Emterio's hit to knock starter Hannah Dow from the game, but reliever Frannie Seader got two quick outs - one of them a sacrifice bunt from Emily Akiyama - before walking Robb to load the bases. Seader coaxed a fielder's choice to avoid further damage.
The Mountaineers (19-17, 6-8 SoCon) got a run back in the fourth to cut their deficit to a single run, as McKenzie Phillips reached on a wild pitch on a strikeout and eventually scored on a UNCG error.
Robb gave UNCG an insurance run with her solo shot in the sixth inning, a one-out blast that was her third of the season.
Harrell, meanwhile, was cruising, scattering six hits and two walks over seven innings after an ominous start to the game. App's first three batters reached on a double, single and walk, but Harrell settled down, getting a strikeout and two flyouts to escape early trouble.
Aside from Phillips in the fourth, Harrell (6-10) allowed just one runner as far as second base the rest of the way. She struck out at least one batter in each inning, falling just one strikeout short of her career high.
Harrrell's career strikeout total moved to 562, just three shy of the school record held by UNCG pitching coach Vanessa (Oakes) Williams.
Michelle Gorzell had three of App's six hits, while Megan Rembielak was 2-for-4.
Dow (4-7) took the loss for the Mountaineers, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and two walks in two-plus innings. Seader worked five innings, allowing a run on three hits and three walks.
The Spartans won the regular-season series 2-1, as the teams split Saturday's doubleheader. The series win is UNCG's first over App since the 2003 season.
Sunday's win, coupled with Georgia Southern's 5-4 loss to Chattanooga, moves UNCG into a tie with the Lady Eagles for fourth place in the league standings. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advance to the SoCon tournament.
UNCG returns to action next weekend when it will host Western Carolina - coached by former Spartan Christine Hornak - for a three-game set. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
Chattanooga 5, Georgia Southern 4 (11)
STATESBORO, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team needed 11 innings before finally sweeping the series at Georgia Southern with a 5-4 victory. The Lady Mocs posted a season-high 15 hits, but also left 15 runners on base before scoring three runs in the eleventh. The Eagles responded with a two-run homer from Megen Smith to cut the score to 5-4 at Eagle Field.
Senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) went 5-for-6 on the afternoon driving in two runs and executing a suicide squeeze in the final frame.
"We could have easily run-ruled them with the amount of runners that we left on base allowing them to hang around," said head coach Frank Reed. "With 15 hits, you can't be upset with your offense, but we just did not get the timely hits."
With the win, Chattanooga improved its Southern Conference record to 12-0 on the season and 31-9 overall. The loss dropped the Eagles to 20-17 and 6-5 in the conference.
In the circle, senior Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) started for the Lady Mocs throwing 4.2 innings and striking out five after exiting with a 2-1 lead. Junior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) came on to retire the side in the fifth, but would give up the tying run the sixth. The Knoxville, Tenn., native finished the contest going 6.1 innings to record her seventh victory of the season and strikeout six.
"I was just working on adrenaline," said Irwin following the marathon game. "I usually warm up in the bullpen, so I am used to throwing a lot. It is just not in a necessarily in a game. I think that adrenaline and everyone being pumped that is what kept me going through the whole game."
The Lady Mocs scored first during the third inning after freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) drew a one out walk, junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) doubled to put two runners in scoring position. To load the bases, senior Kati Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) singled to first base on a bunt and Blosser followed with a single to center as Chattanooga went up 1-0.
Adding the second run of the game was junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.), who singled to shallow center to score Stiles. After a fielder's choice erased Kelley at the plate, the Lady Mocs would leave three on base, but took a 2-0 lead against Georgia Southern.
The Eagles were shut down by Loudermilk through four innings, but a leadoff single by Andrea Tarashuk and a stolen base by pinch runner Bethany Crenshaw put pressure on the senior. With two outs, the bottom of the Eagle order came through as Hinchman singled up the middle cutting the lead to 2-1 as Irwin came on to retire the side.
In the sixth inning, a leadoff double by Kelley Burnett gave another tough situation for Iwin in a one-run game. Georgia Southern moved Burnett to third on a sacrifice bunt with one out. She later scored on groundout to first that rolled down the line and stayed fair as the Eagles knotted the score at two.
Before extra innings, the Lady Mocs had a wonderful opportunity to score after a leadoff single by Blosser through the left side and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Eagles intentionally walked Baker and the decision paid off as junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Ogelthorpe, Ga.) hit into an unconventional triple play as the shortstop tagged second on the grounder up the middle, threw to first to get Flores and a throw up the third base line caught by the catcher beat Blosser to the plate as Chattanooga was attempting score the go-ahead run.
After Georgia Southern was retired in order, the Lady Mocs had two outs and drew walks from senior Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Tydingco with the top of the order up, but Stiles grounded out to end the inning leaving two on base.
"I just think that Kandice [Irwin] is super confident in being a closer," said Stiles. "She knows that when she comes in that no one can touch her. She has that mentality and the team feels that from her, too."
The Eagles once again went down in order and Chattanooga had another opportunity in the eighth as Blosser doubled down the left field line with one out and Baker was intentionally walked for the second straight time, but with a runner on second Flores grounded into a double play to the shortstop that was turned by the second baseman.
The teams went to the top of the 10th inning still tied at two and Flores placed at second due to the international tie-breaker rule. Freshman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) promptly bunted Flores over to second, but pinch hitter sophomore Jenni Martin (East Ridge, Tenn.) was unable to drive the runner in with one down as she popped up the second and a groundout ended the Chattanooga threat.
In the bottom of the inning with Hannah Ennis on second, Mackenzie Williams hit a ball to Baker, who threw to second as Ennis wondered off the bag erasing the runner. Without the runner in scoring position, the inning ended quickly on two more fielder's choices.
In the 11th with one out and Eason on second, the top of the order came through as Stiles singled to left to score the go-ahead run making the score 3-2 followed by a single by Kelley to put runners at the corners and one down.
A gamble by coach Reed paid off as Blosser executed a textbook suicide squeeze scoring the speedy Stiles at third. The Eagles pitched around Baker, who drew a walk and Flores came through with what proved to be the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to center as Chattanooga took a 5-2 lead.
"It felt really good [to take the lead]," said Stiles. "We have had some high hitting games, but today we are unable to put them together, leaving runners at second and third. To finally push those runs across, it felt awesome. I think everybody felt the same way, 'A sigh of relief.'"
In the bottom-half, Irwin struck out the first batter, but then Megan Smith drilled a mistake from the Chattanooga reliever over the left center field fence to cut into the lead, 5-4. To secure the win, Irwin used a fly and ground out to complete the game.
At the plate for Georgia Southern, Smith went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice and scored a run, while she also pitched 7.2 innings taking the loss and giving up two earned runs.
Elon 1, Furman 0
ELON, N.C. - Tomeka Watson's fourth-inning, solo home run to left field was the lone hit of the game for Elon (26-11, 11-4), but it was all the Phoenix needed to pick up a 1-0 win in the rubber game of the Southern Conference series with Furman (13-17, 8-6). Elon has now won each of its five SoCon series.
It was a pitcher's dual for the majority of the game, as the teams combined for just five hits. Elon got a complete game shutout out from Lauren Taylor, who improved to 12-4 on the year. The junior scattered five hits and struck out three batters in the win. She got help from her defense, as it turned one inning-ending double play and tallied eight groundouts and four pop outs.
Furman's Lana Mackey also threw a complete game and dropped to 10-7 on the season with the loss. She surrendered just one hit and struck out five batters.
Elon put a base runner on in the bottom of the first and second innings when Watson and Kaitlyn Piazzolla reached on a walk and an error. Neither would score as Mackey and the Paladins settled in to retire the final batters.
Morgan Hughey led off the top of the fourth inning with a double off of the left field wall and moved to third on a wild pitch. Taylor and the Phoenix shut down the Paladins, as the next three batters were retired in order, ending any chance of a Hughey scoring.
The Paladins looked to answer in the top of the fifth inning when Hannah Bradley drew a one-out walk. The Elon defense continued its stellar play, turning a 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning.
Elon tried to add to its lead in the sixth inning when Watson drew a walk and moved into scoring position on a stolen base. The final two batters were retired, leaving Watson stranded at second.
The Phoenix begins a five-game road trip on Wednesday April 14 when it travels to Buies Creek, N.C. to take on Campbell University.