Georgia Southern 3, North Florida 0
North Florida 2, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Softball split an afternoon twin bill with North Florida on Wednesday afternoon, winning the opener 3-0 before dropping the finale 2-1. Brooke Red tossed a shutout two-hitter in game one while the Eagles out-hit UNF 8-5 in the finale, but dropped the final score, 2-1. Georgia Southern enters this weekend’s conference series at Appalachian State with a 29-15 record while North Florida finishes the day at 27-22.
-GAME ONE-
After a pair of open frames to start the game, Georgia Southern got into the scoring with two outs in the third inning. Tabby Douberly scored the opening run as she advanced on a throwing error by the North Florida catcher. She attempted to pick Lexi Allen off at second, but the throw hit Allen’s leg and bounded into right field, allowing both runners to advance. On the next pitch Marie Fogle hit her sixth home run of the season to right field, making the score 3-0 to the Eagles.
Red went the distance for the Eagles in the circle, allowing just a pair of hits en route to her second career complete game shutout. She struck out seven batters on the afternoon while the offense provided enough run support for her 10th win of the season with no losses.
-GAME TWO-
With rain in the vicinity, North Florida got off to a good start, lacing a double on the opening pitch of a game. The Ospreys converted the leadoff hit into a run with one out on a wild pitch.
Allie Miles got the start in game two, but lasted just two and a third innings allowing one run off four hits in the outing. Marla Thompson came in with one gone in the third and the bases loaded. She worked out of the jam with no runs scoring in the third.
The Eagle tied the score in the bottom of the third when Fogle hit a chopper up the middle with two outs that could not be fielded in time to catch the speedy centerfielder at first. Lewis, who hit a one-out double to spark the inning, scored the run to tie the game at 1-1.
After a walk by Allen in the fifth, Lewis kicked the inning into high gear with a single down the right field line. Allen tested the UNF right fielder and beat out the throw at third with Lewis following her to second. A two-out walk to Fogle loaded the bases for Mackenzie Williams. The Eagle senior flied out to right, stranding three runners to end the fifth inning.
A Georgia Southern throwing error in the sixth allowed North Florida to take a 2-1 lead. Georgia Southern put runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but could not score to tie the game. The loss was charged against Thompson, dropping her to 1-2 on the season.
The Eagles travel Appalachian State this weekend for a three-game set against the Mountaineers. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. from Boone.
Samford 7, Alabama State 3
MONTGOMERY, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team took a quick trip to Montgomery, Ala., Wednesday for a midweek matchup against Alabama State, where the Bulldogs defeated the Lady Hornets, 7-3.
Samford (11-31) was led at the plate by Abby Adams, who went 2-4 including four RBI. Julianne Surane went 2-5, extending her hitting streak to nine games, the longest streak for any Bulldog this season. Robyn Harmon (3-6) started her first game in the circle since March 10, earning the win pitching 6.0 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts. Alabama State (12-28) was led offensively by Ayesha Famble, going 2-3 with one run scored, while starting pitcher Destyni Valencia (1-8) took the loss, throwing 3.1 innings allowing six earned runs.
With two on and two out in the top of the first, a ground ball went under the legs of the third baseman allowing Alex Adams to come home from second and put the Bulldogs up 1-0 early. With two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the second, consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Lady Hornets, but Harmon struck the batter out on a 3-2 count to strand the runners, preserving the Bulldog lead.
A walk and two singles loaded the bases for the Bulldogs to lead off the top of the third, setting up Abby Adams for a big at bat. She took advantage of the situation, launching a double to the right field gap to bring three runs home, putting Samford up 4-0. A groundout moved Adams to third and another groundout to the right side allowed her to score, moving the Bulldogs up 5-0 with two outs.
In the bottom half of the inning with a runner on second and one out, the Lady Hornets bunted to move her over but an errant throw to first allowed the runner to advance home, giving ASU their first run of the game. They followed that with a single and then a hard double down the left field line brought home another run, but the Bulldogs caught the trailing runner in a rundown, tagging her out at third to end the inning with Samford leading 5-2.
Samford loaded the bases for the second-consecutive inning to lead off the top of the fourth. Harmon moved everyone over with a sacrifice fly to right field, pushing the Bulldogs ahead 6-2. Abby Adams followed with an RBI single up the middle, increasing Samford’s lead to 7-2 and putting runners at the corners with nobody out. That run ended the day for ASU’s Valencia in the circle, as the Lady Hornets brought in Bailey Patt to pitch. Patt retired the remaining two batters, ending the top half of the inning with Samford leading 7-2.
After two scoreless innings for the Lady Hornets, they ended their drought with a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-3. The Bulldogs could not add any insurance runs in the top of the seventh, leaving it up to Misha Aldridge to close out the game in the bottom half of the inning. The junior did her job, retiring them 1-2-3 to secure the 7-3 victory.
Next up, the Bulldogs host conference opponent Chattanooga for a three-game series this weekend. Action begins with a double header on Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. CT and concludes with a third game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.
Chattanooga 9, UAB 8
UAB 6, Chattanooga 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Lady Mocs used a walk-off RBI single by junior shortstop Ninjja Suetsugu to clinch a 9-8 win in game one against UAB, but would fall in the nightcap, 6-2, at Frost Stadium. Freshman outfielder Cheyenne Willis and sophomore outfielder Stephanie Rieck at the top of the lineup combined for eight hits in the doubleheader.
Chattanooga with the split now stands at 28-14 overall, while UAB increases its record to 28-16 on the season following the game two win. The Lady Mocs snapped a 15-game winning streak at Frost Stadium with that loss.
The Lady Mocs connected on three home runs in the doubleheader that were struck by seniors catcher Vivian Morimoto and shortstop Jessica Traxler and freshman third baseman Sarah Beth Roberts.
Also adding multi-hit game for Chattanooga were senior pitcher Michelle Fuzzard and junior first baseman Kasey Tydingco. Roberts, Suetsugu and Morimoto tallied multi-RBI games during the doubleheader.
Earning the game one win in relief was Fuzzard, who tossed 2.1 innings and struckout five. Deason threw the first 4.2 innings and fanned five. Fuzzard (12-7) was tagged with the game two loss and Deason threw 5.1 strong innings of relief with two strikeouts.
UAB took advantage of mistakes by the Lady Mocs in the circle and registered six home runs that directly lead to 13 of the 14 runs in the twinbill. Kayla Orr blasted two homers in game one along with one from Kristen McGrath, while Heather Pearson, Catherine Crawford and Whitney Fletcher rounded the bases in game two.
The game two victory for the Blazers went to Amber Torres (7-3), who allowed nine hits, scattered over seven innings, and struck out seven. Lannah Campbell fell to 11-6 on the campaign with the loss in the first game.
Chattanooga returns to action with a doubleheader on Saturday against Samford with first pitch set for 2 p.m. The final of the series is slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday. Fans can follow all the action in Birmingham, Ala., with free audio and live stats available on the softball schedule page of GoMocs.com.
Charleston Southern 5, College of Charleston 1
Charleston Southern 6, College of Charleston 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team faltered and suffered a pair of losses, 5-1 and 6-3, in a doubleheader at crosstown-rival Charleston Southern on Wednesday afternoon.
Three of the Cougars' four runs came on solo home runs provided by Mackenzie Maples, Lizzy Vaughn and Kelsey Hodgson. The Cougars have now hit four home runs in their past four games.
Carly Corthell went 3-for-4 in game two and had four total hits to lead the Cougars on the day.
CofC doomed itself by committing five fielding errors on the day which led to five unearned runs.
GAME ONE: CofC: 1, Charleston Southern: 5 CSU got started right away when they loaded the bases in the first on a pair of hit batters and a line-drive single back up the middle. A Cougar fielding error then extended the inning and allowed a run to cross and Linzy Rother took advantage with a two-RBI single to right which made the score 3-0 after one inning.
Maples' home run in the fourth drew CofC closer when she pulled the ball to right and it carried high into the air until it cleared the fence in right center.
CofC would get not be able to draw closer, however, and the Buccaneers put the game further out of reach in the sixth with a walk and a single followed by a bases-clearing double to left center by Hayes Holdsworth.
GAME TWO: CofC: 3, Charleston Southern: 6 The Cougars led for most of the second game but CSU had responded each time CofC pulled ahead and the Bucs ultimately took a lead in the sixth and held on to it to complete their sweep.
Vaughn's first-inning homerun which lined out of the park along the right-field line and Hodgson's towering shot to dead center granted CofC the early 2-0 lead in the ball game.
CSU leveled the score in the bottom of the second though after loading the bases on a pair of singles and a fielding error and scoring their first run on a sacrifice fly from Linzy Rother. Holdsworth later scored to tie the game on a double-steal maneuver while Melissa Adams was caught in a rundown between first and second.
CofC wouldn't let the tie stand for long and scored a run for the third consecutive inning in their next at bat. Carly Corthell doubled into the gap in right center and Amanda Lonergan sent a hard-hit line drive back up the middle to score the go-ahead run.
CSU had an answer once again when Adams led off the fourth with a walk and worked her away around the bases before scoring on a wild pitch.
The Bucs then took their first lead of the game when Adams got on board with a single and scored her fourth run on the day on a two-run home run to left field off the bat of Rother. An infield single and dropped flyball accounted for the third run of the inning and made the score 6-3, the ultimate final.