Western Carolina 13, North Carolina A&T 3
Western Carolina 8, North Carolina A&T 7
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - A grand-slam by Morgan Wyatt, and a game-winning sacrifice fly by Kelly Braman, capped Western Carolina softball's (17-21) 13-3, 8-7 doubleheader sweep of North Carolina A&T (6-21) Tuesday at the Catamount Softball Complex.
It was the first double-header sweep of the season for the Catamounts. Wyatt's grand-slam was her second of the season.
Western Carolina struck early and often in the first game against the Aggies. The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning for the Catamounts with two runs. Jordan Fulton opened the inning with a lead-off triple, her first of the season. Haley Pace followed with a walk and promptly stole second. Fulton scored the first run of the game when Wyatt ground out to second base but picked up an RBI and moved Pace to third. Pace scored off an Aggie wild pitch.
North Carolina A&T tied the game in the third inning. Catamount starting pitcher Amber Steinhardt yielded two solo homeruns to Aggie players Tiffany Macklin and Ryanne Hill to knot the game at two.
A one out single by Robyn Burnette, and a walk to Pace, set up a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Wyatt came to the plate and hit a two RBI single to centerfield to break the tie and score Burnette and Pace.
Juanita Jernigan's solo homerun for the Aggies, in the fourth inning, pulled North Carolina A&T within one run, 4-3.
Western Carolina answered in the bottom of the fourth with two more runs. Pace picked up a two RBI single to left field, scoring Amelia Griffin and Steinhardt, who got on base thanks to a walk and a single respectfully.
The Catamounts shortened the game to five innings scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second, and one out, Fulton notched her second hit of the game, earning two RBI, scoring Braman and Steinhardt. A walk by Burnette and an Aggie miscue to place Pace on first, loaded the bases for Wyatt, who launched a shot over the left field wall to end the game.
Steinhardt had a rough outing but still takes the win, improving to 8-7, on the mound. In four innings of work, she gave up five hits, three runs, all homeruns, and struck out three. Bekah Burkett came into the game in the fifth inning and earned her first save of the season, sitting down the three batters she faced, fanning one.
The second game looked to be turning in North Carolina A&T's favor. The Aggies quickly posted three runs in the first inning, against starting Catamount pitcher Megan Taylor.
In the bottom of the second, Western Carolina managed to push across a single run. Scotton led off the inning with a single and scored from an RBI double by Erin Foster.
In the fifth inning, the Aggies scored their fourth run of the game, when Taylor gave up a homerun to Hill, her second of the day. After giving up the long ball, Taylor was replaced by Katie King who pitched the final eight innings.
It seemed North Carolina A&T put the game out of reach after the Aggies tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-1 lead.
Western Carolina began to chip away at the Aggie lead beginning in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Catamounts managed to push across three runs, and only trail by two, 6-4. Pace started the fifth inning scoring with a one out homerun to left field, her third of the season. Back-to-back singles by Braman and Scotton set up the scoring chance for Foster, who hit a two RBI double to right field, scoring Braman and Scotton.
North Carolina A&T looked to post the knock-out punch in the seventh inning scoring a run to take a 7-4 lead.
The Catamounts donned their rally caps and forced a tie with three runs in the bottom frame of the seventh. A double to centerfield by Scotton led off the inning who then moved to third on a passed ball. Relief pitcher Tranea Jones, who replaced Lauren Clement in the fifth inning, had the wheels come off on the mound. Jones walked Foster who earned second base on a passed ball that also scored Scotton. Wyatt also walked and Foster scored on a North Carolina A&T miscue. The third walk of the inning by Jones, to Amelia Griffin, was the tying run. Fulton's single passed second base scored Griffin to tie the game.
The eighth inning began with an Aggie runner on second base, per the international tie-breaker rules. King got the first out, for the Catamounts, with a fly ball to centerfield. Burnette got the Catamounts out of the inning with a dandy double play, as she snatched a liner for an out, and in a heady play, tossed the ball to second base to get the runner at second for the double play.
Burnette was also a factor in the Catamounts bottom half of the eighth, as she was placed on second. The Aggies' Jones woes continued in the eighth as an error by her allowed Burnette to move to third, after giving up a walk to Pace. This set up Braman's game-winning sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Burentte, and sealing the game.
King came into the game in relief and earned the win, improving to 8-9 on the season. She allowed six hits, three runs, one earned, and struck out six.
Western Carolina hosts its final non-conference doubleheader of the season Wednesday welcoming Winthrop to the Catamount Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
Georgia Southern 4, Kennesaw State 2
Georgia Southern 7, Kennesaw State 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball (21-21, 9-3 SoCon) powered its way back to the .500 mark with a doubleheader sweep over Kennesaw State (20-16, 4-4 A-Sun) on Tuesday (April 5th) afternoon at Eagle Field. Three runs in the sixth inning gave GSU a 4-2 victory in game one. The Eagles crushed three home runs to take game two, 7-2.
Senior Brianna Streetmon took a no-hitter through five and two-thirds in game two, but the Eagles held on for a combined one-hitter. In the opener, freshman Allie Miles became the Southern Conference strikeout leader with 112, adding seven strikeouts in her complete game victory. The win was her 10th of the season.
"I'm happy with the way we responded to adversity in game one to rally and win," said Head Coach Maggie Johnson. "Going into game two, I wanted to give Brianna (Streetmon) some rest and only have her pitch a few innings. She had some good stuff today and I couldn't take her out with the no-hitter going on. I think today's games will give us some confidence going into the big weekend series with Elon."
-Game 1-
The Owls raced out to a 2-0 advantage in the second inning, taking advantage of a pair of Georgia Southern fielding errors. With two outs and the bases loaded, a wild throw on Lyndsay Hackett's ground ball to short allowed two runs to score. A ground ball to Miles in the circle retired the Kennesaw State threat in the inning with two runners stranded.
GSU made Kennesaw State pay for a leadoff walk to junior Hanna Ennis in the third inning. The Eagle shortstop came in to score from second base on Andrea Tarashuk's RBI single up the middle. The run cut Kennesaw State's lead to 2-1.
Georgia Southern took its first lead of the game in the sixth frame off the bat of Marie Fogle. The Eagles' leading slugger drove in her 29th and 30th runs of the season on a single down the left field line. Her poke brought Alexa Lewis and Kelly Burnett in to score for a 3-2 GSU lead. Jorie Walker scored later in the inning to put the Eagles up 4-2 on a dropped pop-up to the shortstop by Ennis.
Miles shut down the Kennesaw State offense with seven strikeouts and only one walk on four hits in the complete game performance in the circle. The two unearned runs allowed her to lower her team-best ERA to 2.88.
-Game 2-
The Eagle offense gave Streetmon early run support when Ennis took the 3-2 pitch over the right field fence to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The solo home run was her third of the season and part of a 4-for-5 performance in the doubleheader.
Fogle doubled the Eagle advantage in the third inning with her seventh home run to lead off an inning this season to right field. The junior's conference-best 13th home run handed the Eagles a 2-0 lead. She is just five home runs shy of matching Megan Smith's single-season school record of 18 home runs set last year.
Georgia Southern blew the game open in the fifth, taking advantage of another leadoff walk to Ennis. The junior scored on a sacrifice fly by Mackenzie Williams. Tarashuk belted her second RBI single up the middle to plate Smith. Burnett brought the final two runs of the inning home on her first home run of the season over the left field fence. For a 6-0 Eagle lead.
The sixth inning began with Georgia Southern's first no-hitter since 2006 still intact. The senior left-hander retired the first two batters, but a fielding error and the ensuing home run ended the no-no bid. The pair of runs put GSU up 6-2.
For the third time in the doubleheader, Georgia Southern took advantage of a leadoff walk, this time issued to Fogle, to score a run. A one-out sacrifice fly by Ennis allowed Fogle to scamper home and tack-on an insurance run, extending the Eagle lead to 7-2.
Smith replaced Streetmon for the final inning and worked a quiet frame to nail-down the combined one-hitter, Georgia Southerns' second of the season. Streetmon went six innings and struck out six with just one walk. The only blemish, a two-run home run, allowed a pair of unearned runs to score. The victory was her ninth of the season and the 47th in her career to move into sole possession of third place on the career wins chart.
The Eagles travel to Elon for a three-game SoCon series this weekend which opens on Saturday (April 9th) at 1 p.m. The weekend's action wraps up on Sunday, April 10th, at 1 p.m. Georgia Southern's next home game is on April 16th against Furman.
Samford 4, Western Kentucky 3
Western Kentucky 8, Samford 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ---- The Samford softball team notched its first midweek win of the season Tuesday evening as it split its doubleheader at Western Kentucky. The Bulldogs took game one, 4-3, before falling in game two, 8-0.
Samford now moves to 9-30 on the season while Western Kentucky improves to 21-17 overall. The Bulldogs still keep the series advantage as the overall series record moves to 4-3.
The Bulldogs had a chance to score early in the first inning of game one as Amanda Jordan walked with two outs to load the bases with Brianna Chambers at second and Lakan Smith at third. Nicole Bobrowski then reached on a fielder's choice to move the runners, but Chambers was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Samford took a 3-0 lead in the third inning when Bobrowski homered to right-center field with one out to score Jordan and Smith. Western Kentucky made it a 3-1 ballgame in the bottom of the third when Kelsie Mattox doubled to left field with one out to bring Katrina Metoyer home, but Laura Smith grounded out and Ciara Garcia fouled out to end the inning.
The Hilltoppers cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tiffany Gooch scored on a wild pitch. However, Samford would answer back in the top of the seventh to go ahead, 4-2.
Kayla Shaffer singled through the left side to start the seventh inning followed by a single to left field from Chambers. A sacrifice bunt from Lakan Smith moved the runners around, but a fielder's choice got Jordan to first, Chambers to third and called Shaffer out at home. With two outs, Bobrowski hit an RBI single to bring in Chambers before Jordan was thrown out a home on a fielder's choice to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Metoyer doubled with two outs to left field to drive in Karavin Dew to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one. However, a fly out by Mattox ended the game and the Bulldogs escaped with the 4-3 win in game one.
Bobrowski led the Bulldogs at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance, one run and four RBI. Shaffer followed, going 2-for-4, while Chambers and Allison Reynolds also each had a hit.
Kayla Burris (6-12) earned the win, striking out five batters in a complete seven-inning outing. She gave up just three runs on eight hits against the Hilltoppers.
Metoyer went 3-for-3 and Dew went 2-for-2 to lead WKU at the plate. Mattox, Mallorie Sulaski and Amanda Walden also recorded hits for the Hilltoppers.
Sulaski (9-7) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on four hits. She recorded two strikeouts and allowed four walks. Dana Nathanson pitched one inning of relief and gave up two hits.
In game two, the Hilltoppers shut down the Bulldogs in the first three innings, as Samford could not ring up a hit until the fourth inning. Chambers hit a two-out double down the left field line but a pop out from Jordan ended the inning and the scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs.
Bobrowski allowed only one WKU hit in the first inning before Amanda Thomas led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run to center field to give WKU the 1-0 lead. However, she sat the next three batters down with a fly out, a pop up and a ground out.
The third inning put the Hilltoppers up 2-0 as Smith singled up the middle with one out to score BrittneyPerry who singled to lead off the inning before stealing second. WKU had scoring opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings but the Bulldogs worked out of it and kept the Hilltoppers from scoring any more runs.
Samford put together three straight singles by Surane, Dykes and Shaffer in the sixth inning to load the bases, but back-to-back strikeouts by Chambers and Smith and a ground out by Jordan left the bases loaded and ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, WKU extended its lead to 6-0. Metoyer started the scoring with a single with runners on the corners to score Thomas. Then, with the bases loaded, Mattox hit a two-RBI single to drive in Metoyer and Dew before Smith reached first base on an error by Jordan and advanced to second while Perry came home to score the sixth run. A walk-off two-RBI double by Taylor drove in Smith and Mattox and ended the game. The Hilltoppers won game two, 8-0.
Shaffer, Chambers and Surane each had one of Samford's three hits in game two. Bobrowski (2-7) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings. She struck out three batters and allowed just one walk.
Thomas led the Hilltoppers, going 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Smith followed going 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI while Mattox went 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Meteyor went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI and Perry was 1-for-2 with two runs. Garcia and Taylor also each had a hit while Taylor had two RBI as well.
Kim Wagner (10-7) earned the win, giving up just three hits in six innings of work. She also struck out four batters.
The Bulldogs have an open week this weekend before returning home next weekend, April 16-17, to play host to the reigning Southern Conference Tournament Champion Elon.