Furman 8, North Carolina Central 0
Furman 8, North Carolina Central 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Lauren Collier and Kayla Suskauer tossed complete-game shutouts while Jessie Homesley and Morgan Hughey each registered five hits to lead Furman to a doubleheader sweep of North Carolina Central 8-0, 8-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
With the sweep, Furman improved to 4-10 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home. The Eagles slipped to 4-14.
In game one, Collier tossed six innings of two-hit softball and fanned six batters to notch the 8-0 victory and up her record to 2-7 in the circle.
Katie Michaels went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Paladins with an RBI single and a walk-off homer, her first roundtripper of her career, that ended the game by mercy rule in the sixth inning.
Hannah Pace keyed a four-run first inning with a two-run double before Michaels' single up the middle widened the margin to 5-0 after two innings. Hughey, 3-for-3 with three RBIs in game one, laced a two-run single up the middle in the fifth to set up Michaels' line drive blast down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the sixth.
Jessie Homesley joined Hughey with a 3-for-3 game while adding a pair of doubles. Pace went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as Furman pounded out 14 hits in the opener.
Aurora Baker (1-3) allowed eight runs on 15 hits to suffer the loss for North Carolina Central.
In game two, Suskauer (2-3) scattered three hits over six innings to toss an 8-0 shutout against the Eagles.
Stephanie Field, Homesley, Hughey and Nikki Legg all collected two hits apiece and Collier belted her second homer of the season as Furman registered 11 base hits.
Homesley's two-out, RBI single put Furman on the board in the first inning and Collier's home run keyed a two-run second inning that put the Paladins ahead 3-0. Furman scored two more in the fourth as Alex Bimonte reached on an error and came around to score on Legg's triple to right-center. Michaels followed with an RBI single to plate Legg and give Furman a 5-0 cushion.
Singles by Hughey, Legg and Field loaded the bases for Furman and Stephanie Spain forced a run home when she was hit in the head by a pitch. Homesley lifted a fly ball to right that was dropped allowing the final two runs to score.
Six different batters drove in runs for Furman while Legg tripled and scored twice for the Paladins.
Kayla McPeek took the loss for N.C. Central allowing five earned runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings.
The Paladins return to action Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Charleston Southern for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Lady Bucs.
College of Charleston 1, Georgetown 0
College of Charleston 3, Georgetown 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team swept its doubleheader against Georgetown with 1-0 and 3-0 wins at Patriots Point on Tuesday evening.
The Cougars (16-6), on extremely short rest, got seven innings of one-run pitching out of Stephanie Saylors between the two games. Saylors picked up the win in the first game when she came into the circle in relief with no outs in the fifth inning and pitched perfectly. Saylors started the second game and went 4.1 innings allowing one run and Jen Rosene earned the win with 2.2 innings of no-hit pitching.
Freshman left fielder Carly Corthell was 5-for-7 on the day with an RBI and run scored. Corthell is batting .417 on the season, the team high for CofC.
The Cougars returned to Charleston in the early hours of Tuesday morning after playing five games - in which they went 4-1 - in Clearwater, Fla., as part of the University of South Florida Under Armour Invitational last weekend.
GAME ONE: CofC: 1, Georgetown: 0
The Cougars kept the Hoyas off the board in the first game and plated the lone run in the fifth inning to come away with the win.
Georgetown threatened in the second inning when, with runners on first and second with one out, Taylor Koenig singled back up the middle. Regan Page, who started the play on second base, rounded third and tried to score but Kristi Woodall fired home from center field and catcher Katie Pesature made a fine play to scoop the one-hop throw and apply the tag.
The Cougars broke the scoreless tie in the fifth when Woodall walked to lead off the inning and Corthell and Lizzy Vaughn produced back-to-back singles to score the game-winning run.
GAME TWO: CofC: 3, Georgetown: 1
The second game saw the Cougars surrender a 1-0 lead before bouncing back with two runs in the sixth to secure the sweep.
In the top of the third, Alexandria Anttila singled up the middle but Courtney Clark threw her out when she attempted to steal second in the next at bat. Clark's throw out would prove to be all-important as Shikara Lowe doubled in the next at bat and likely would have scored Anttila had she not been caught stealing.
In the bottom half of the third, Corthell lead off with a single and Katie Forbes doubled to score Corthell as the go-ahead run.
Mackensey Carter tied the game in the fifth with a leadoff homer to left field. After a base on balls, Rosene entered the game and shut down the Hoyas the rest of the way.
The Cougars earned Rosene the win when they rallied in the sixth to put CofC on top for good. Hillary Stringer led off the inning with a double into the left-field gap and Woodall walked to put two runners on. Kelsey Hodgson executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and Pesature and Corthell added RBI singles to score both runners.
NEXT UP:
The Cougars open Southern Conference play with a three-game series against Elon at Patriots Point on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13. The Cougars will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and conclude the set on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Jacksonville State 9, Samford 0
Jacksonville State 6, Samford 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team dropped its doubleheader at Jacksonville State Tuesday evening before the rains washed out the rest of the evening. Samford fell in the first game, 9-0, and in the second game, 6-0. The second game was called at the fifth inning stretch after the rain prevented the teams from completing the full game.
In the first game, Jacksonville State got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run home run by Amanda Crow. The Gamecocks added two more in the bottom of sixth with a bases-loaded deep single by pinch-hitter Katie Matchen to drive in Kristin Graham and Crow and make it a 5-0 game. Tess Echols then singled to drive in Sallie Beth Burch, and Krystal Ruth followed with a three-run home run to extend the lead to 9-0 and end the game.
Alex Adams had the only hit for the Bulldogs in game one. Robyn Harmon (0-4) pitched 5.2 innings, giving up nine runs on nine hits. She struck out two batters and allowed two walks.
Graham led the Gamecocks with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate with two runs. Crow went 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI while five other JSU players also each recorded a hit. Ashley Eliasson (1-1) earned the win for the Gamecocks. Eliasson gave up just one hit in five innings and allowed two walks. Savanna Hennings pitched the final inning for JSU, recording two strikeouts.
In game two, a two-run home run by Graham put the Gamecocks up, 2-0, early in the first inning. A solo home run by Kaycee Crow to lead off the second inning extended the JSU lead to 3-0. Then, in the third inning, the Gamecocks plated three more runs with an RBI single by Amanda Crow and a two-run triple by Kaycee Crow.
In the midst of rain, the Bulldogs got runners on the corners in the top of the fifth inning to set up a scoring opportunity, but a two-out ground out by Allison Reynolds ended the inning. The teams tried to play the bottom of the fifth inning but the rain washed out the rest of the game, and JSU walked away with the 6-0 win.
Tiffiny Harbin, Kristin Graham, and Hilary Phillips combined for a five-inning no-hitter. Harbin earned the win, improving her overall record to 5-4. She recorded four strikeouts for the Gamecocks. Graham and Kaycee Crow went 2-for-2 at the plate while Amanda Crow went 2-for-3. Amanda Crow led the Gamecocks with three RBI while Graham also had two RBI.
Kayla Burris (2-7) took the loss for Samford, giving up six runs on seven hits in four innings of work. She struck out two batters and walked three.
The Bulldogs are back in action Thursday as they kick off a five game road swing, starting at Mercer. Samford will play a doubleheader with the Bears starting at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs will then open the Southern Conference season at Chattanooga on Saturday.
Lady Mocs Softball Rained Out at Tennessee Tech
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Due to weather in the Cookeville, Tenn., area, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team's game against Tennessee Tech was postponed on Tuesday. The teams agreed to begin the contest 20 minutes early, but a steady line of rain going through the middle of the state haulted play in the bottom of the first.
Senior designated player Michelle Fuzzard notched a base hit through the left side for Chattanooga in the top of the first, but that was as far as the game lasted before rain began falling at the Tech Softball Complex.
The Lady Mocs are scheduled to begin Southern Conference action this weekend by hosting Samford in the Southern Rail Rivalry Series. First pitch of the Saturday doubleheader at Frost Stadium is set to begin at 1 p.m., while the finale is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday. Chattanooga has an 11-9 advantage with just four head-to-head matches between the two schools remaining in men's and women's tennis and men's and women's golf.