College of Charleston vs. UNCG – Cancelled
Appalachian State 3, Georgia Southern 2
BOONE, N.C. – Senior Caitlin Wainwright held Georgia Southern scoreless to give Appalachian State University softball a 3-2 victory on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
Mountaineers (18-21, 8-11 SoCon) gave the Eagles (31-16, 16-2 SoCon) their second conference setback of the season.
Wainright threw four and two thirds scoreless innings and only allowed two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The Greenville, N.C. native ended the weekend without giving up a run and only allowing five hits to the first-place Eagles.
GSU’s Brooke Red suffered her first loss of the season (10-1) and gave up three runs on four hits in three and a third innings.
Appalachian State didn’t waste any time to jump out an early lead. Freshman Sarah Warnock led off the Apps first inning with a double to center field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior Megan Rembielak. Junior Meghan Smith blasted a two-run home run to give the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead.
Georgia Southern scored two runs of its own in the third inning on a two-run home run by Marie Fogle. ASU’s Riley Carter day ended after the home run in the two and a third innings of work and was relieved by Wainright.
For the second straight day Allie Cashion led off an inning with a solo home run and her solo bomb in the bottom of the fourth gave Appalachian a 3-2 lead.
The Eagles gave the Mountaineers a scare in the top of the seventh when Hanna Ennis ripped a two-out double off the right field fence but Wainright put the game away the very next batter to earn her fifth win of the season.
Smith and Warnock lead the Mountaineers’ offense with a pair of hits apiece and seniors Rembielak and Michelle Lighton each recorded a hit in their final regular season game at Sywassink/Lloyd Stadium.
The Mountaineers return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Tennessee Tech for non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m.
Western Carolina 10, Elon 3
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball (19-29, 6-12 Southern Conference) earned its first Southern Conference sweep of the season defeating Elon (20-17, 8-10 SoCon) 10-3 Sunday at the Catamount Softball Complex.
It is the second series Western Carolina has won this season. The Catamounts took two out of three games against Fuman on March 31 and April 1.
The Catamounts scored in five of the six innings and scored multiple runs in four of the five innings. WCU also out-hit Western Elon nine to seven.
Western Carolina’s heavy hitter Erin Foster was held hitless in the game, snapping a 12-game hitting streak, but only because she was walked twice and hit by a pitch. The Catamount offense backed up Foster as she scored all three times she was placed on base. Foster has now reached base safely, either by a hit or a walk, in 13 straight games.
Kelly Braman was instrumental in the Catamounts’ Sunday win over the Phoenix. It was Braman’s two-run homerun, her fourth of the season, that gave WCU an early 2-0 lead. With two outs, Elon elected to unintentionally, intentionally, walk Foster to bring up Braman, who took the first pitch by Elon pitcher Erin O’Shea over the left field wall.
Elon tied the game in the top of the second on a two RBI triple by Camille Hill.
The Phoenix tacked on a single run in the top of the third to build a short-lived 3-2 lead. It would be the only lead the Phoenix would enjoy in the game.
Western Carolina re-took the lead for good in the bottom of the third. Jordan Fulton started it off with a one out single. Foster drew her second walk of the game and Braman was also walked to load the bases. A throwing error by Elon, after Shemekia Scotton flied out to right field, scored Fulton to tie the game at three. Amber Steinhardt followed with a two RBI single to right field plating Foster and Braman.
Elon’s second error of the game gave Western Carolina a run in the fourth inning. Amelia Griffin walked and stole second and scored on a Phoenix error that allowed her to score and Fulton to reach first.
The Catamounts tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth and another deuce in the sixth. Both runs in the fifth were scored on an Elon error.
In the sixth, WCU got two quick runners on board when Fulton singled and Foster was hit by a pitch. Braman got her third hit of the game when she hit an RBI single to score Fulton and Scottton followed with a RBI single past third base.
Katie King got the start in the game. She tossed two solid innings giving up two runs on two hits and struck out two. She gave up a lead-off walk in the top of the third inning and was relieved by Jordan Garrett with the score tied at two. Garrett got King’s runner out on a fielder’s choice but would up giving up one run in the top of the third to give Elon the lead.
Garrett would settle down ending up tossing five innings, allowing one run on four hits and struck out six. Garrett improves to 8-15 on the season.
Braman had three hits in the game and three RBI, she also scored two runs. Fulton and Scotton each had a pair of hits in the game.
Western Carolina heads back on the road this week. The Catamounts play at North Carolina A&T on Thursday before going to UNCG on Saturday for a three-game series.
Chattanooga 15, Samford 5 (5)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team used a 10-run third to dig out of an early 5-2 hole en route to a 15-5 victory at Samford on Sunday afternoon. Propelling the offense with a three-run homer and four runs batted in each were seniors shortstop Jessica Traxler and pitcher Michelle Fuzzard.
The Lady Mocs after the win are now 31-14 overall and 14-2 in the Southern Conference, while the Bulldogs fall to 11-34 and 4-14 in the league.
With three hits, sophomore outfielder Stephanie Rieck continued her tear, hitting safely in her 13th-straignt game, and improving her season average to .425. Four more Lady Mocs - senior catcher Vivian Morimoto, sophomore outfielder Layne Rainey, Fuzzard and Traxler - recorded multi-hit games, while every starter had a base knock in the contest.
Registering multi-RBI games along with Fuzzard and Traxler were freshman outfielder Cheyenne Willis and Rieck.
In the circle, freshman Taylor Deason came on in relief of Fuzzard and was lights out in a perfect 3.2 innings including seven strikeouts. The Clarksville, Tenn., native improved her league-leading mark to 18-7 on the season.
Samford was led by Nicole Bobrowski with a two-run double and a homer from Madison Dickey, while seven players registered base knocks. Starter Shelby Scott took the loss in the circle to fall to 2-7 on the season and struck out two.
Leading off the first, Willis singled to right center and Rieck doubled into the same gap. Samford was able to gain some momentum as the next three batters were retired in order without a run crossing the plate.
In the bottom-half, an infield single by Juliane Surane and Alex Adams plated the first run with a double to left center. Misha Aldridge singled home the second run of the game before Abby Adams hit a base knock up the middle. Both runners scored on a double off the bat of Bobrowski to provide the Bulldogs with an early 4-0 lead.
The second began as three-consecutive walks were drawn by Traxler, freshman third baseman Sarah Beth Roberts and junior second baseman Ninjja Suetsugu. A sacrifice fly by Willis drove in the first run before Rieck registered an infield single to cut into the Samford lead, 4-2.
Dickey connected on a solo shot to right center as the Bulldogs chased Fuzzard from the circle. Deason came on to notch a strikeout and groundball to retire the side.
Chattanooga exploded for 10 runs on eight hits in the third inning as the team batted around. Morimoto and Tydingco started it off with singles before Traxler drove in a run with a hit to right. A walk to Suetsugu loaded the bases and Rainey came through with a single to center, 5-4.
Following a bases loaded walk to Willis, Rieck and Fuzzard connected on back-to-back singles as the Lady Mocs took a 7-5 lead. Another walk issued to Morimoto drove in a run before a sacrifice fly by Tydingco put Chattanooga firmly in the lead 9-5.
With two runners on, Traxler capped the scoring with a blast to center field, 12-5. It was her second rounder tripper of the weekend and ninth of the season.
Chattanooga continued the scoring in the fourth as singles from Suetsugu and Rainey set the stage for Fuzzard, who connected on her 10th home run of the season to increase the advantage to 15-5. She extended her career-RBI total to 207.
In closing out the Bulldogs, the Chattanooga defense showed up as Rainey made a diving catch in left before Tydingco jumped to catch a liner at first. Deason ended the game with her seventh strikeout.
Chattanooga returns to action on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Frost Stadium. The finale of the series is senior day for Fuzzard, Morimoto and Traxler with the first pitch slated for 2 p.m.