Chattanooga 9, College of Charleston 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Prior to Sunday's contest, seniors Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.), Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.), Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) were honored as they led Chattanooga to a 9-3 victory over the College of Charleston. Eason paced the offense going 3-for-3 with three runs batted in during her final home contest at Frost Stadium.
"It is really good that our offense stepped up," said catcher Eason. "Especially going into the tournament because we need that momentum. I don't know what the difference was today compared to the last couple weeks, but we are going to bring it to the tournament."
The Lady Mocs finished the regular season at 39-15 overall and 19-5 in the Southern Conference, while the Cougars fell to 24-27 and 10-13 in conference play. The .722 win percentage is the fourth-best by a Chattanooga squad overall and the nineteen SoCon victories is the most for a conference squad passing the 2002 version of the UTC softball team that went 18-2.
"It's always fun when they score early," said head coach Frank Reed. "I am happy for the seniors and glad they had the chance to be honored today. They got a big win at home and I thought that was pretty key."
Pitching for Chattanooga, Loudermilk started the game throwing 4.1 innings and struck out seven, while only yielding a two hits. Irwin came on as a reliever with two runners in scoring position, only allowing one run to cross the plate and fanning two ending the threat in the fifth. She went on to finish the contest pitching 2.2 innings.
With another lineup change by head coach Reed, junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) at the two-hole went 2-for-4 driving in two runs, while in the five-slot freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) scored twice and drove in a run with a single.
After the Lady Mocs went down in order, Tydingco occupying the five slot in the order drew a walk, then Hurndon used a sacrifice bunt to move her to scoring position. After a Kelley walk, senior Eason delivered a two-RBI double into the right center gap plating the two runners on base.
In the third, the Cougars drew three-straight walks to load the bases with two outs and Katie Forbes drove in the only run of the frame with a single into the hole at short cutting the UTC lead to 2-1.
Chattanooga showed why it has locked up its fourth-straight Southern Conference Regular Season title by scoring seven times in the third to take a 9-1 lead. Junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) led off the inning with a double to left, then Flores singled through the left side.
With runners on the corners, Blosser singled up the middle scoring Stiles, then junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.), who has been in a mini-slump cleared the bases with a double off the bottom of the right center field fence giving the Lady Mocs a 5-1 advantage.
Once Tydingco singled home Baker, a base knock by Hurndon and a fielding error by the shortstop off the bat of Kelley loaded the bases. Eason continued the scoring with a single to right pushing a run across and a two-RBI double to left by Flores capped the inning for Chattanooga.
"It only takes one hit to get out of a slump," said Hurndon following the game. "After we got the first one and scored a couple of runs, there was no stopping us. Hitting is contagious. When we start scoring runs, we are going to score more than one or two."
As Chattanooga was looking to take the game in five innings, CofC mounted a comeback during a one-out rally as it used an error and walk to put a runner in scoring position. Kristie Shifflett singled to the hole on the right side and a bad throw allowed the runner to score. With Irwin in, Katie Nutaitus singled to right driving in a run cutting the UTC lead to 9-3.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Thursday as the Southern Conference Tournament comes to Frost Stadium. Chattanooga looks to defend its back-to-back-to-back titles starting at 1:30 p.m. against the No. 4 seed.
Samford 5, UNC Greensboro 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Kaitlin Merkt was 3-for-3 with the first two-home run game of her career and UNC Greensboro had Samford down to its last strike, but the Bulldogs' Amanda Jordan hit a three-run, walk-off home run to give the home squad a 5-4 win Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams. The Spartans must now wait to learn their postseason fate.
A win would have clinched a spot in the four-team Southern Conference Championship for the Spartans (25-28, 12-11 SoCon). UNCG's postseason status now rests in the hands of Furman and Georgia Southern, who split a doubleheader Sunday. Should Georgia Southern win Monday's contest, UNCG and Furman would finish the season tied at 12-11 in the SoCon standings and the Spartans would advance to the tournament by virtue of taking the regular-season series against the Paladins. Should the Paladins win Monday, GSU and Furman would be tied at 13-10, putting both into the tournament and leaving UNCG out.
The Spartans were in control of Sunday's contest against the Bulldogs (19-31, 10-14 SoCon) from the get-go, but saw Samford rally with five runs in the last three innings.
UNCG starter Amber Harrell had retired six straight Samford batters heading into the seventh, and got a flyout to left to lead off the inning. Katie England followed with a single to right, but Harrell struck out Amanda Barrs for the second out of the inning.
Alex Adams singled to left to keep the Bulldogs' hopes alive, bringing Jordan to the plate with the game on the line. Already a strikeout victim three times on the day, Jordan fell behind 0-2 before sending Harrell's next offering out to left for the walk-off win.
The loss wasted a career day from Merkt, who put UNCG on top 3-0 in the first inning with a homer that drove in Brittany Ausley and Alex Emeterio, who both singled. She added a solo shot in the fourth, her career-high 11th home run of the season, to make it a 4-0 game. Merkt's four RBI moved her season total a team-best and career-high 38 on the year.
Samford cut the lead in half in the fifth inning, thanks to some wildness from Harrell. Aaren Fisher drew a leadoff walk, then took second on a wild pitch. England followed with a single up the middle to plate Fisher with the Bulldogs' first run of the day, and Barrs' single put runners on the corners. Another wild pitch allowed England to score, but Harrell settled down to retire the next three batters in order.
UNCG stranded 11 runners in the contest, including eight in the first three innings. The Spartans got to starter Stephanie Royall early, but left the bases in the first and second innings in addition to scoring the three first-inning runs. UNCG also left the bases loaded in the sixth.
Harrell fell to 13-14 on the season. She allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. She struck out 10.
Barrs (5-15) picked up the win with two innings of one-hit relief.
Ausley and Kristen Gabel had two hits each as UNCG pounded out 11 on the day. England was 3-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs.
UNCG finishes the regular season with a 12-11 mark in SoCon play, its first winning league record since 2003, when the Spartans were 14-6 in the SoCon.
Furman 4, Georgia Southern 1
Georgia Southern 5, Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Furman moved one step closer to earning a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament by downing Georgia Southern 4-1 in game one to earn a doubleheader split with the Eagles on Sunday at Pepsi Stadium. Georgia Southern claimed game two, 5-1.
The Paladins (24-22, 12-10 SoCon) head into Monday's regular season finale and rubber game of the three-game series needing a victory to clinch a spot in the four-team league tournament scheduled for May 13-14, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Furman got all the offense it would need in game one behind a four-run first inning that featured three walks and two Eagle errors. Hannah Bradley and Katie Michaels opened the frame with walks and moved into scoring position on Jessie Homesley's sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Lana Mackey drew a base on balls to load the bases and Brythe Blankenship reached on an error by the third baseman Jenny Side to force in the first run. Michaels scored on a wild pitch and Morgan Hughey delivered a two-run single to right field to up the advantage to 4-0.
Mackey had enough to work with as she tossed a complete game allowing just one run on six hits to improve to 17-9. She fanned seven Georgia Southern batters without issuing a walk.
Hughey went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI to lead the Paladin offense.
Brianna Streetmon suffered the loss for the Eagles to slip to 18-10. She allowed four runs, all unearned, on four hits over six innings. Streetmon walked three and struck out three.
The win clinched Furman's first winning season since the 2000 campaign.
In game two, Megen Smith (7-13) held Furman to just one run on three hits over seven innings to lead Georgia Southern to a 5-1 triumph and clinch the Eagles' spot in the SoCon Tournament. Smith walked just two batters and fanned one while throwing just 86 pitches.
Nina Iduate put GSU ahead in the first by singling, advancing to third on an error and scoring on Side's bunt single. Smith helped herself in the third blasting a solo homer down the left field line to up the margin to 2-0.
Marie Fogle's bases loaded single off of reliever Hannah Bradley helped GSU plate three more runs in the sixth before Furman answered with its only run of the game on Mackey's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.
Starter Kayla Suskauer (3-6) took the loss for Furman after allowing one unearned run on two hits in 1/3 inning of work.
Iduate, Smith and Side each collected two hits to ignite the Eagles' offense while Michaels went 2-for-3 to lead Furman.
Monday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. at Pepsi Stadium.
Appalachian State 7, Western Carolina 0
Appalachian State 6, Western Carolina 5
BOONE, N.C. - Hannah Dow and Louise Gibson combined on a two-hitter in a 7-0 win in game one and Megan Rembielak singled home Sarah Rappe in the bottom of the sixth to lift ASU to a 6-5 win and complete the three-game sweep of Western Carolina.
Appalachian moves to 27-25 on the year for the first winning season in ASU softball history. ASU outscored the Catamounts 23-7 in the three games. The Apps move to 11-12 in the SoCon while WCU drops to 10-43 overall and 2-21 in conference play.
The Mountaineers scored early and often in game one, scoring two in the first, three in the third and one in the fourth. Allie Cashion started the scoring with a two-run homer to right center to give ASU the early 2-0 lead.
The fourth inning saw the Black and Gold clear the bases in one play without the benefit of a hit. Sarah Rappe led off the inning with a triple and was followed with back-to-back walks from Rembielak and Cashion. Meghan Smith was next and worked a walk, and ball four got away from the WCU catcher, allowing the speedy Rembielak to score from second. Cashion followed Rembielak's path and went to third, Amber Steinhardt's throw was dropped by the third baseman, allowing Cashion to score and allowing an alert Smith to come around and score as well.
Hannah Dow earned the win in the circle, going 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit with three strikeouts. Gibson finished the game, allowing a hit with four strikeouts.
Rembielak went 4-for-4 and Gibson went 4.2 innings to earn the win as Appalachian State earned a come-from-behind 6-5 win in game two.
Western Carolina took a 4-1 lead with a three-run third inning, but ASU battled back with a run in the third and three in the fifth.
Cashion continued her hot-hitting with a double down the left field line to score Rembielak. ASU scored on a WCU error and Michelle Lighton capped the inning with an RBI double.
The Catamounts tied the score at five in the sixth to lead up to Rembielak's game-winner.
Rembielak paced the offense with the second four-hit game of her career, while McKenzie Phillips, Cashion and Lighton had two hits apiece.
Jordan Fulton led the Western offense with three hits and a run scored.
Gibson earned her first collegiate win, allowing three hits, a run, and striking out three.