College of Charleston 3, Chattanooga 0
College of Charleston 5, Chattanooga 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team swept its Saturday afternoon Southern Conference doubleheader with SoCon-leading Chattanooga at Patriots Point. The Cougars marched to a 3-0 victory in the first game and carried the momentum to a 5-1 win in the second.
The teams will play the series conclusion on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m.
The wins improved CofC to 27-16 (7-9 SoCon) while the losses were Chattanooga's first in league play and drop them to 29-11 (11-2 SoCon).
Kelsey Hodgson homered in both games and had four RBIs on the day to plate what would be both games' winning runs.
Alexa Datko and Stephanie Saylors each pitched complete games and earned wins in the pitching circle for the Cougars. Datko held the Lady Mocs to five hits and struck out seven in the opener and Saylors limited Chattanooga to six hits and struck out four in the second game.
The Cougars utilized timely hitting to produce offense with seven of their eight runs on the day coming with two outs.
GAME ONE: CofC: 3, Chattanooga: 0
Three early runs would prove to be enough for the Cougars as Datko shut down Chattanooga and kept the Lady Mocs off the scoreboard for only the fourth time this season.
In the first inning, Carly Corthell led off with a single and was moved up by a sacrifice before Hodgson cracked a two-out home run to deep center.
The Cougars followed it up with an insurance run in the second with a leadoff single by Katie Nutaitis and RBI single to right field by Corthell.
The insurance would ultimately not be needed as Chattanooga was unable to get a runner past second base in the game. The Lady Mocs threatened with a leadoff double in the third but a fine defensive effort by Kristi Woodall bailed CofC out of the jam. Woodall showed her range in centerfield to track down a ball hit over her left shoulder and was able to double up the runner at second who had left early assuming the ball was over Woodall's head.
After that third-inning play, Chattanooga would only reach three base runners for the remainder of the game.
GAME TWO: CofC: 5, Chattanooga: 1
The Lady Mocs were doomed by a lack of timely hitting and runners left on base in the second game and stranded two runners six different times.
In almost identical order to the first inning of the opening game, the Cougars took an early 2-0 lead by way of a Corthell single and Hodgson home run.
Chattanooga finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth with a pair of singles and a CofC fielding error cutting the Cougars' lead in half.
CofC distanced itself from the competition yet again in the fifth with singles from Woodall, Nutaitis, Hillary Stringer and Lizzy Vaughn resulting in two runs and a 4-1 CofC lead.
The Cougars would tack one more on in the sixth with a two-out RBI single for Nutaitis to push the score to 5-1, the eventual final.
Georgia Southern 9, Furman 1
Georgia Southern 1, Furman 0 (8 innings)
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball (24-23, 12-5 SoCon) took a doubleheader sweep over Furman (13-23, 6-8 SoCon) on Saturday (April 16th) to move just one-game out of first place in the Southern Conference. The Eagles run-ruled the Paladins in the first game, 9-1, needing six innings to take the victory. Game two was a pitchers' duel that went eight innings before an RBI single by Kelly Burnett gave Georgia Southern a 1-0 victory.
Junior Mackenzie Williams had a stellar day at the plate, going 5-for-7 overall, including a solo home run in game one. Senior Megen Smith went 4-for-6 and scored the game-winning run in game two. Her sacrifice fly in game one plated Hanna Ennis and ended the day's first game.
The Eagle pitchers were dominant, holding Furman to six total hits and no earned runs. Brianna Streetmon took the complete-game victory to open the day and win her 10th game of the season. She needed just 65 pitches to dismiss the Paladins on four hits and an unearned run with five strikeouts. Freshman Allie Miles posted her third shutout of the season in eight innings of work to improve to 11-7 in the circle. She struck out a career-high 10 batters and tallied Georgia Southern's fourth two-hitter of the season.
-Game 1-
The Eagle bats opened the day with three runs off four hits to spring out to a 3-0 lead. Marie Fogle led off with a double and scored on Smith's RBI single through the right side. Smith and Williams came home later in the frame off a two-RBI single by Kayla Brooks, Brooks' first RBIs of season.
Williams extended the GSU lead to 4-0 in the third inning with her solo home run with one out. She now has eight home runs and is tied with Smith for second place on the team.
Furman clawed a run back in the fourth, scoring Hannah Pace off a throwing error on the back-end of a 4-6-3 double-play attempt. The Eagles atoned for the miscue in the bottom of the inning when Jorie Walker scored off Fogle's second double of the day to put GSU up 5-1.
A leadoff hit by Ennis in the fifth paved the way for another Eagle run. The junior shortstop scored on Williams' single up the middle to make the score 6-1 after five. GSU clinched the run-rule victory in the sixth inning with three runs. Walker scored her second run of the day off an Ennis double, which also plated Fogle. Ennis reached third on the play to put the run-rule victory within reach. Smith's sacrifice fly to center brought Ennis home and sealed the 9-1 Georgia Southern win.
-Game 2-
In game two, both pitchers were effective and held the opposing offense in check for over seven innings. Furman's biggest threat came in the second when the Paladins put runners on second and third with no outs. Miles struck out the side to get out of the jam. The Eagles could not get a breakthrough run, stranding two runners in regulation.
A one-out walk by Smith in the bottom of the eight was followed by a single through the right side by Williams to put runners on first and second. Burnett ended the game for Georgia Southern with a walk-off single to score Smith and a 1-0 Georgia Southern victory.
Georgia Southern won its seventh consecutive series over Furman with Saturday's wins. The Eagles will attempt the sweep on Sunday, April 17th, at 1 p.m. at Eagle Field.
Samford 3, Elon 2
Elon 7, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After a late sixth inning rally from the Samford Bulldogs downed the Elon softball team, 3-2, in game one, the Phoenix offense exploded for seven runs on 13 hits in game two en route to a 7-1 victory on Saturday, April 16, at Bulldog Field.
Elon moves to 20-18 overall and 5-9 in Southern Conference play, while Samford moves to 10-31 (6-8 SoCon).
Game One
The Phoenix pushed a pair of runs across the plate in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs, as Tomeka Watson delivered a two-run double down the left field line with two outs to score Carleigh Nester and Caitlin McGowan.
But Samford answered back and cut Elon's lead in half in the bottom half of the inning after a leadoff triple from Kayla Shaffer led to a sacrifice fly from Brianna Chambers to make it a 2-1 game.
After relieving starter Erin O'Shea in the bottom of the fifth, Pam DelPizzo escaped a possible big inning from the Bulldogs after Samford put runners on second and third with one out. DelPizzo buckled down and induced a grounder to first base which led to the second out of the inning after first baseman Morgan Wright gunned down the runner at third trying to score at home. Elon got out of the inning in the next at bat after Alex Adams flew out to center field.
But the Bulldogs took the lead in the bottom of the sixth after a two-run home run over the center field wall by Lakan Smith put the Phoenix down, 3-2, heading into the top of the seventh.
Elon attempted to mount a late comeback after Danielle Lafferty began the inning with a leadoff single up the middle, but Samford starter Kayla Burris managed to retire the next three batters to secure the game-one win for Samford.
O'Shea took the loss for Elon in game one and falls to 7-9 on the year after giving up two runs on four hits and one walk in five innings of work. Burris went the distance for Samford to earn the win and improve to 7-12 this season.
Watson led the Phoenix with a 2-for-3 clip at the plate, while McGowan, Nester and Lafferty each went 1-for-3.
Game Two
Down a run early after Samford recorded one run in the bottom of the second inning, the Phoenix answered in the top of the third with two runs following a two-run single from O'Shea that plated Nester and pinch runner McKenzie Harrelson to make it 2-1 game.
The Elon offense was not done, however, as the Phoenix scored in the next three innings to eventually take a commanding 7-1 advantage.
Ahead 3-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning, Elon put three more runs across the plate on five hits to take a 6-1 lead. Following back-to-back singles from DelPizzo and Kaitlyn Piazzolla to start the inning, Lafferty stepped to the plate and belted a 1-0 pitch over the fence in center field to give the Phoenix a five run lead late. The home run marks Lafferty's third of the year.
The Phoenix added another run in the sixth to give starter Lauren Taylor a six-run cushion, as Emerald Graham got in on the action and hit a solo homer over the fence in center to make it a 7-1 game.
Taylor picked up the win for Elon to improve to 11-7 on the year after going five innings and giving up one run on one hit and a walk, while fanning five Bulldogs. Kari Pervell pitched two innings and gave up two hits and struck out one.
Nester went 3-for-4 for the Phoenix at the dish with two runs scored, while DelPizzo and Piazzolla both went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Lafferty finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBI.
Elon and Samford wrap up the three-game series tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Bulldog Field.
Appalachian State 6, UNCG 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Appalachian State jumped out to a 6-0 lead over UNCG and held on for a 6-2 win Saturday in the first of a three-game Southern Conference series at the UNCG Softball Stadium.
The Spartans (18-23, 6-7 SoCon), wearing pink jerseys for their Pack the Park Pink initiative to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life, were stymied until the sixth inning. Down six runs, UNCG finally pushed across its first run with some small ball.
Freshman Aisha Figueroa was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then swiped second, her 19th steal of the season. One out later, redshirt senior Kaitlin Merkt singled up the middle to drive in Figueroa with UNCG's first run of the day. A walk to Alex Emeterio and a wild pitch put runners on second and third, and Heather Robb followed with another single up the middle to bring home Merkt.
ASU starter Hannah Dow would settle down, however, striking out the next two batters to escape further damage.
The Mountaineers (16-18, 9-5 SoCon) struck for a pair of runs in the first to quickly set the tone for the day. The Apps had runners on second and third before UNCG could record an out, as Katie Boyd drew a leadoff walk, Megan Rembielak followed with a bloop bunt single and each runner advanced on a wild pitch.
Meghan Smith's grounder knocked in Boyd with the day's first run, and Allie Cashion lifted a sacrifice fly foul down the left field line to bring in Rembielak.
Appalachian State blew it open in the third, with Rembielak reaching on an error to lead off the inning, Smith singling up the middle and Cashion hitting a home run out to left, again before UNCG could get an out.
The Apps added an insurance run in the fifth on Michelle Lighton's RBI double.
The Spartans, meanwhile, stranded seven runners on the day. Emeterio (2-for-2, walk) reached base three times but didn't score, while UNCG couldn't do anything with April Langley's leadoff single in the third, either. Kristen Gabel dropped in a bloop single to center with one out in the seventh, but the Spartans couldn't sustain the rally in dropping their fourth straight league contest.
Cashion led the Apps at the plate, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored.
Dow (8-4) allowed two runs on six hits to grab the win, while Josie Felix (5-11) allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in 3 innings to take the loss.
The series will wrap up Sunday with a doubleheader starting at noon at the UNCG Softball Stadium.