Appalachian State 5, Tennessee Tech 2
Appalachian State 14, Tennessee Tech 4
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Appalachian State University softball swept Tennessee Tech, 5-2, 14-4, in a midweek non-conference twinbill on Wednesday night at Tech Softball Field.
The Mountaineers (20-21) out hit the Golden Eagles (22-26) 12-4 in the first game and 15-5 in the nightcap. The Apps used their speed and stole four bags in Game 1 and five in Game 2.
Game 1
Appalachian jumped out an early 1-0 lead in the first on a solo home run by junior Meghan Smith, but the Golden Eagles were able to tie up the contest in the second inning on RBI-single by Kayla Floyd.
The Mountaineers broke the game open in the third using six hits to score four runs. Freshman Dani Heichen led the inning off with single to score and stole second for her 14th stolen base of the season. Fellow freshman Sarah Warnock singled to first to move Heichen to third. Senior Megan Rembielak drove a single to right field to score Heichen. Smith ripped a two-run single to right field to give the Apps a 4-1 lead. Riley Carter’s RBI-single up the middle gave the Mountaineers a 5-1 lead and was their sixth straight hit.
ASU's Caroline Williams walked the bases but escaped the fifth inning with only giving up one run to keep the Mountaineers ahead 5-2.
The Mountaineers pitched by committee and Caitlin Wainwright started the contest striking out one and allowed three hits in two innings. Caroline Wainwright earned the win to go 9-8 on the season and threw two perfect innings with two strike outs. Williams pitched the fifth and sixth innings and was able to keep the Golden Eagles in check after allowing three walks. Riley Carter closed out the game in the seventh to earn her first career save.
Appalachian out hit TTU 12-4 and were lead by Rembielak, Smith and Allie Cashion with two hits apiece.
Game 2
For the second straight game the Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Rembielak hit a one-out bunt single and advanced to third on a pair of stolen bases. Rembielak scored on a fielding error by the shortstop.
In the third inning Rembielak reached on an error to lead off the frame and stole second. Cashion singled to second base which allowed Rembielak to score and give ASU a 2-0 lead. The Golden Eagles responded in the bottom half with two runs of their own to tie the game up 2-2.
The Mountaineers took advantage of TTU's miscue to regain the lead 3-2 in the fourth and used a leadoff home run in the fifth by Cashion to extend ASU lead to 4-2.
The Golden Eagles responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Brooke Basten to cut the Apps' lead to 4-3.
Appalachian scored five runs with two-outs in the sixth inning. Warnock led the two-out run with a single up the middle and stole second to get into scoring position. Warnock scored one batter later on a throwing error by the shortstop. Cashion crushed a two-RBI triple to give ASU a 7-3 lead. A pair of singles by Caroline Rogers and Caroline Chambers gave the Apps a 9-3 lead. TTU added a run in the bottom half to its deficit to 9-4.
The Black and Gold added on five runs in the seventh to take a 14-4 and the inning highlighted a three-run bomb by Williams and a solo shot down the left field line by Cashion.
Cashion led ASU with a four-for-five game and tied a career high five RBIs while Rembielak finished the nightcap three-for-four with a career high four runs and three stolen bases.
The Mountaineers end the regular season with a trip to Birmingham Ala. for a series with Samford. Saturday's doubleheader is set to start at 2 p.m. EST and first pitch for Sunday's contest is set for 2 p.m. EST.
Murray State 1, Samford 0
Murray State 9, Samford 1
MURRAY, Ky. ---- Samford softball fell in two tough games Wednesday, as they dropped a double header at Murray State, 1-0 and 9-1.
Samford (11-36) earned a combined 11 hits between the two games, with Madison Dickey and Abby Adams both earning three. Murray State (26-16) was led by Megan Glosser going 4-7 while Alexa Becker had five RBI.
Game One: Murray State 1, Samford 0
Samford out-hit Murray State, 7-4, in the first game of the double header but the Bulldogs ended up on the wrong side of the pitcher’s duel, losing 1-0. Robyn Harmon (3-8) pitched a great game in the circle, allowing only four hits but unfortunately giving up a long ball in the fourth that ended up being the difference. Abby Adams was a perfect 3-3 at the plate, while Alex Adams accounted for a pair of hits as well. CheyAnne Gaskey (5-2) earned the win for the Racers in the circle.
The teams were scoreless through 3 1/2 innings until Murray State’s Casey Castile hit a one-out solo homer to left center, moving the Racers up 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth. They would tack on another hit following the home run but consecutive groundouts would end the inning and limit the damage to only one run.
The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. Murray State starter Gaskey got the Racers out of the jam however, striking out the rest of the side to maintain their lead. In the top of the seventh, Samford got the tying run into scoring position as Caroline Seay led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Bulldogs could not bring her home however, as a flyout and a strikeout ended the game with Samford taking the tough 1-0 loss.
Game Two: Murray State 9, Samford 1 (5 Innings)
A big first inning would put the Racers up early, as they eventually won game two in five innings, 9-1. Shelby Scott (2-8) took the loss, as she allowed five earned runs in the first inning. Dickey went 2-4 at the plate with Casey Clark driving in the Bulldogs’ only run
Two tough hits to lead off the bottom of the first had the Racers threatening early and Alexa Becker brought them all home with a high three-run homer to left field to give the home team the early 3-0 lead. The Racers would load the bases with two outs and a walk would bring home another run, moving them up 4-0. That run ended the day early for Scott in the circle, as Misha Aldridge entered the game in relief. After returning to the top of the order, Murray State would bring another run home with a bunt single to go ahead 5-0 but a fly ball in shallow right would stop the bleeding for the third out.
With two runners on and one out in the top of the fourth, the Bulldogs would make it into the run column courtesy of an RBI single by Clark, her first career hit at Samford, scoring Aldridge and moving Rachel Bickert to third. A close out at first on a groundout would end the half-inning however, with Samford trailing 5-1 after 3 1/2.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the fourth, the Racers put an RBI single into right field to plate one run and would score another on a fielding error, moving ahead 7-1. The inning would end with Dickey making a good throw to Abby Adams covering second, catching the Murray State runner stealing.
With two runners on and two out in the bottom of the fifth, Murray State’s Becker unloaded a 2RBI triple to give the Racers the run-rule victory, 9-1, in five innings.
Next up, Samford hosts its final home series of the 2012 season as the Bulldogs welcome the Appalachian State Mountaineers for three games. Action begins with a double header on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m., which will also be senior day. The series concludes with game three on Sunday, April 29 at 1 p.m.
Longwood 10, Elon 6
Longwood 6, Elon 0
FARMVILLE, Va. – Despite an offensive-powered first game, the Elon softball team was not able to claim a win in a mid-week doubleheader at Longwood today, April 25. The Phoenix (20-19) fell to the Lancers (28-25) by scores of 10-6 and 6-0 at Lancer Field.
Game 1
The Lancers put the first runs of the game on the board in the bottom of the second. A double to right center by Jordan Cox scored the first run, while a double to left by Courtney Long made it a 2-0 lead for Longwood.
Elon got hot in the top of the fourth, scoring five runs to take a three-run lead, 5-2. With one out and one on, Johanna Spencer sent the ball over the fence in center for a two-run homer, her first of the season, and the first Phoenix runs of the day. After singles by both Danielle Lafferty and McKenzie Harrelson, Carleigh Nester hit the rare inside-the-park home run down the right field line to push three more runs across the plate for the maroon and gold.
Longwood responded in the bottom of the frame with six unearned runs off five hits. After three runs had scored to tie the game, Brooke Short homered to add two more runs to the board and regained the lead for the Lancers, 7-5. Chelsea White came in to relieve Caitlin O’Shea for the Phoenix before Ashley Kramer hit a home run just over the center field fence to take an 8-5 advantage.
The Phoenix pulled within two runs in the top of the fifth to make it an 8-6 game. Lafferty knocked in a two-out RBI with a single to left that scored Grace Eng from second. Eng had singled through the left side earlier in the inning and advanced to second on a walked batter.
The Lancers would score two more in the game to take an eventual four-run victory, 10-6.
The win went to Longwood’s Libby Morris (11-13) who pitched 4.1 innings and gave up all six of Elon’s runs, all earned, off of seven hits. C. O’Shea (2-4) took the loss after allowing two earned runs off seven hits in 3.2 innings of work. The save went to Ashley Cornell who pitched the final 2.2 innings and gave up only one hit and struck out three of the eight batters she faced.
Nester went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored one run and three RBI. Lafferty recorded a pair of hits in her three at bats adding a run and one RBI.
Game 2
Longwood put two runs on the board early with a run in both the first and second innings. The Lancers scored its second run on a solo shot to center field by Brittany Latka.
The Phoenix had a chance to put a run on the board in the top of the fourth with a runner in scoring position. Spencer singled to center field to start the inning and then stole second. A ground out by Lafferty advanced Spencer to third with just one out, however, Elon was not able to push her across the plate.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Lancers added two more runs for a 4-0 advantage. Leta Bressin knocked in a run on a two-out triple to center and then scored on a throwing error by Lafferty that would have recorded the third out of the inning.
Kari Pervell took over pitching duties for Elon in the bottom of the fifth, relieving Erin O’Shea. Short scored from third for Longwood to make it 5-0 on a single to right by Kramer. Short had hit a leadoff double to right and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. The Lancers added another run in the bottom of the sixth to take the second game, 6-0.
Morris (12-13) claimed her second win of the game, pitching five shutout innings. E. O’Shea fell to 13-9 on the season with the loss after three earned runs off five hits in four innings of work.
The Phoenix will return to conference play this weekend with its final road series of the season. Elon will play a three-game set at Georgia Southern starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 28.