College of Charleston 8, Savannah State 2
College of Charleston 1, Savannah State 1
SAVANNAH, Ga.--The sweep was a tale of two games as the Cougars exploded offensively in the opener and narrowly edged the Tigers in a pitchers' duel of a finale.
CofC's bats were explosive in the opener as the Cougars pounced all over the Tigers, running them up for 17 hits in the affair. The Cougars got quality production out of their freshman class with five runs and three RBIs coming from the newcomers. Allison Pedigo led that front in going 4-for-4 in the opener with a pair of RBIs.
Junior pitcher Stephanie Saylors pitched the complete game and offered a strong outing to deny the Tigers an earned run and notch the win.
The second game was a quiet pitchers' duel with the teams combining for only four hits through five and a half innings. Freshman Hope Klicker pitched the entirety for CofC and held the Tigers scoreless to allow CofC to pull out the late-inning win due in part to an RBI single from Kristy Giragosian.
GAME ONE: CofC: 8, Savannah State: 2
The Cougars used a pair of three-run innings through the middle frames to comfortably take the first game. Saylors went the distance in the opener and allowed no earned runs while striking out seven and walking just one.
The Cougars took their first lead in the top half of the second inning with a freshman-initiated one-out rally. Mackenzie Maples set up the rally when she dropped a single into the right side with her first collegiate plate appearance. Pedigo, also in her first trip to the plate as a Cougar, produced immediately with a towering double over the centerfielder's head to score Maples all the way from first.
After the Tigers plated a run in the third, the Cougars took the lead for good after a four-hit, three-run fourth. CofC got three consecutive singles out of freshmen Klicker, Maples and Pedigo before the Tigers made two throwing errors on one play to plate two runs. Courtney Clark then singled to left field to put CofC up 4-1.
The Cougars picked up where they left off in the 5th inning with singles from Ashton Jarrett and Kelsey Hodgson (Woodstock, Ga.). With runners on first and second, Klicker slapped a single to centerfield which scored Jarrett, bumping the score to 5-1. Hodgson moved up to second on Klicker's single and advanced to third on a groundout before scampering home on a passed ball. Later in the inning, Pedigo singled to left which scored Klicker and rounded out the scoring for the inning.
The Cougars tacked on one more in the sixth when freshman Chloe Fletcher led off with a single and scored on a Jarrett RBI.
GAME TWO: CofC: 1, Savannah State: 0
The second half of the twinbill provided significantly less offense with neither team producing any sort of threatening situation until the sixth inning. Klicker earned her first collegiate win with a complete-game shutout in which she struck out eight, allowed just five hits and walked none.
The Tigers threatened late in the game when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with three conveniently placed singles. Klicker dealt her way out of the jam, however, with a strikeout, flyout and groundout in the inning to prevent a run from crossing.
The Cougars responded right away in the top of the seventh when Pedigo singled down the right field line and the right fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Pedigo to advance to third. Giragosian stepped in with one out and crushed a single through the right side of the infield to plate the eventual game winner.
Klicker made light work of the Tigers in the seventh by forcing a harmless ground ball and striking out a pair to lock up the win.
Georgia State 1, Georgia Southern 0
Georgia Southern 4, Georgia State 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Softball earned a split against Georgia State in the 2012 home opener at Eagle Field. The Eagles dropped a tough 1-0 result behind a strong pitching performance from Sarah Purvis. In the finale, the Eagles scored four runs in the third inning to take the 4-1 victory.
Junior Andrea Tarashuk posted the go-ahead runs with a three RBI double in the third inning of game two. That hit, combined with a three-hit outing by Brooke Red sent the Eagles to the 4-1 victory. The win for Red was her first collegiate win in the circle.
Sophomore Sarah Purvis went the distance in game one for the Eagles, striking out nine batters while allowing just two hits. Her outing was sullied by the one run allowed in the third inning off a fluke play.
--GAME1--
Georgia State took the lead in the third frame, working a walk around to second with a sacrifice bunt with one out. Breanna Morrissey hit a ball down the line which looked to be within the range of Georgia Southern’s second baseman, Hanna Ennis. As Ennis stretched for the ball, she ran into the first base umpire, allowing Carrie Williams to score on the play.
That would be the extent of the scoring as the Panthers took the first game by a 1-0 margin. Purvis took the hard-luck loss, going the distance and allowing just two hits. She struck out a season-high nine batters in the outing. The Eagles logged three hits to open the day.
--GAME 2—
The Panthers, true to form, scored a lone run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. A leadoff walk was worked around to scoring position by Georgia State. Morrissey scored the run off a passed ball to take a 1-0 lead.
Georgia Southern stormed back in the bottom of the frame with singles by Lexi Allen and Marie Fogle to put runners on second and third with one out. Mackenzie Williams walked on five pitches on the next at bat to load the bases full of Eagles. Tarashuk cleared the bases with a three RBI double to the fence in right center, plating Allen, Fogle and Williams. Later in the inning with two outs, Kourtny Thomas snuck a liner down the right field line for a hit, bringing Tarashuk home for a 4-1 Georgia Southern advantage through three innings of play.
Red, the starting pitcher handcuffed the Panther batters, allowing just three hits in six innings of work. She allowed just the one unearned run with a pair of strikeouts to post her first career win in the circle. Freshman Allie Miles came in and nailed down the save with a scoreless seventh inning. Her first save of the season came with a pair of strikeouts.
Georgia Southern goes back on the road this weekend with a trip to the USF Invitational in Tampa, Fla. The Eagles open the weekend of play against Arkansas on Friday afternoon at 2:15 p.m.
Georgia Tech 4, Furman 2
Georgia Tech 8, Furman 2
Atlanta, Ga. – Kate Weseman belted a three-run homer in game one and a two-run blast in game two to help lead the 20th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to a 4-2, 8-2 doubleheader sweep of Furman on Wednesday afternoon at Mewborn Field.
With the sweep, Georgia Tech improved to 6-1 on the season while Furman dropped to 0-5.
In game one, Weseman hammered a two-out, three-run homer to left field in the bottom of the third to stake Tech to a 3-0 lead. Shannon Bear doubled to drive in a run in the sixth inning to up the margin to 4-0 before the Paladins mounted a late rally.
Pitcher Lauren Collier led off the top of the seventh with a single to right-center and Jessie Homesley followed with a line drive home run over the left field wall to trim the Georgia Tech lead to 4-2. Alexis Galinski drew a one-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate for Furman, but Yellow Jacket starter Hope Rush retired the next two batters to close out the complete game.
Rush, who improved to 2-1 on the season, limited Furman to just two runs on three hits. She fanned four batters while allowing one base on balls.
Collier (0-3) suffered the loss for the Paladins allowing four runs on seven hits in six innings. The Maineville, Ohio, native struck out four batters without issuing a walk.
In game two, Georgia Tech belted three homers in a five-run first inning en route to an 8-2 victory.
Weseman, Bear and Rush each homers off of Furman starter Shelby Parker (0-1) who allowed five runs on four hits in just one-third innings of work before giving way to fellow freshman Lakyn Shull. Kate Kuzma, who went 2-for-2 with three RBI, delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the third to up the Yellow Jacket lead to 7-0.
Furman answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Galinski reached on a leadoff single and was erased as Homesley reached first base on a fielder’s choice. With one out, Collier launched a towering two-run homer down the left field line to put the Paladins on the board.
Georgia Tech’s Lindsey Anderson tossed six innings allowing just two runs on six hits to improve to 4-0 in the circle. She fanned seven Paladins while surrendering just one walk.
Nikki Legg went 2-for-4 to lead Furman at the plate.
Furman opens its home schedule on Saturday when it hosts Big South Conference member Gardner-Webb in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Pepsi Stadium.
Appalachian State 3, Charlotte 1
Charlotte 6, Appalachian State 1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Appalachian State University softball earned a split versus in-state foe Charlotte with a 3-1 victory and a 6-1 setback in the nightcap on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. at D.L. Phillips Softball Complex.
This was the second-straight season that the Mountaineers (2-4) and the 49ers (2-2) split a pair of contests, and Charlotte holds a 20-5 lead in the all-time series with ASU.
In the first game, ASU's senior Caitlin Wainwright pitched a gem to earn her first win of the season in a complete-game three-hitter with six strikeouts. The Greenville, N.C. native only gave up one run to improve her ERA to 2.30 in 24.1 innings this season.
The Niners' Katie Watkins threw seven innings with 10 strikeouts, three hits and two earned runs.
Charlotte struck first when Briana Gwaltney recorded a sacrifice fly to score Alex Rogers, who lead off with a double, in the first inning.
Junior Allie Cashion blasted a two-run home run down the left field line to give the Mountaineers a 2-1 lead in the fourth-inning. Cashion leads Appalachian with three home runs and five RBIs this season.
The Mountaineers increased their lead in the fifth with the help of a pair of errors from Charlotte to give ASU a 3-1 advantage.
Wainright finished the last three frames with one hit and was able to strand a pair of Niners.
In the nightcap, the Niners were on the board early again when Natalie Capone scored on a Kalie Lang RBI single for a 1-0 lead after the one.
Charlotte batted around to tag four more runs in the second. The Niners used some clutch hitting with three RBI singles and were able to capitalize on a Mountaineer miscue to increase UNCC's lead to 5-0.
The Mountaineers didn't go down without a fight as senior Michelle Lighton blasted two-out triple and scored on a double from Meghan Smith.
UNCC's Lexi Bentancourt scattered eight hits to give up one run in her second-straight complete-game victory.
ASU's Caroline Williams started for the Apps and pitched 1.1 innings on five hits and four earned runs. Freshman Caroline Wainwright came in relief and pitched 4.2 innings with three strikeouts, five hits and an earned run.
Michell Gorzelle, Williams and Smith each batted 2-for-6 for the day, and Cashion tallied two RBIs while Smith recorded one.
The Mountaineers stay on the road and travels to N.C. Central on Saturday at noon for a pair of games.