UNCG 4, Western Carolina 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG completed a three-game Southern Conference sweep of Western Carolina on Sunday, taking a 4-2 win at the UNCG Softball Stadium to even its record in league play.
The Spartans won for the fourth time in five games to improve to 21-29 overall on the season and 10-10 in SoCon play. Western Carolina, which brought a five-game winning streak into the weekend, fell to 21-32 overall and 6-15 in the league. UNCG won both of Saturday’s games in walk-off fashion, taking an 8-7 win in game one and a 6-5 win in game two.
UNCG plated an unearned run in the bottom of the first Sunday to quickly take the lead. Aisha Figueroa reached on a bunt single and took two extra bases on a WCU throwing error, and Aubrey Baldwin followed with a sacrifice fly into shallow center to score Figueroa.
The Spartans doubled their advantage in the third on Alex Emeterio’s RBI single, which scored Baldwin, who led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch.
The Catamounts pulled even in the top of the fourth. Shemekia Scotton fell into an 0-2 hole to lead off the inning but recovered to single up the middle. Amber Steinhardt then crushed the first pitch she saw out to left center to tie the contest at 2.
Three straight one-out singles in the bottom half of the frame put UNCG back on top to stay. Heather Robb got the rally going with a single to right center and Dominique Madruga blooped a single into shallow right to put a pair of runners on for Toni MacReynolds. The sophomore catcher singled down the right field line to knock in Robb, who made a nifty slide to elude the tag at the plate for the go-ahead run.
UNCG added an insurance run the following inning. Baldwin greeted reliever Jordan Garrett by smoking a double to the gap in left center and later went to third on a wild pitch. Katelyn Bedwell’s sacrifice fly to left plated Baldwin to make it a 4-2 contest.
Spartan pitchers Cory Mattson (13-14) and Erica Navarette combined to limit the Catamounts to just five hits on the day. Mattson was in control from the get-go, needing only five pitches to work a 1-2-3 first inning. Her only mistake was on Steinhardt’s homer in the fourth. She allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in four innings.
Navarette tossed three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, for her fourth save of the season. She struck out Westerns’ Erin Foster, who entered play Sunday with a .374 average and a SoCon-best 17 home runs, to end the contest.
Steinhardt (8-7) took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits in four innings. Garrett worked the final two frames, allowing a run on one hit, striking out four.
Baldwin and Robb had a double and a single each to lead UNCG at the plate. Emeterio’s single pushed her career hit total to 225, just two back of the school record shared by Karyn Thompson and Jennifer Bonilla. Emeterio had four hits Saturday to move her into third in school history in that category.
Morgan Wyatt paced the Catamounts with a 2-for-3 effort.
UNCG hosts Chattanooga for a three-game set next weekend to wrap up the regular season. The Spartans will honor seniors Emeterio and Mattson prior to Sunday’s first game.
Georgia Southern 5, Elon 0
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Softball closed the 2012 home schedule with a convincing 5-0 win over Elon at Eagle Field. Sarah Purvis tossed a two-hitter with nine strikeouts to win her 11th game in conference play. The Eagles are 35-17 overall and 19-2 in the Southern Conference entering the final three games of league play next weekend at Furman.
The first two and a half innings of Sunday’s game were a pitching duel between Elon’s Erin O’Shea and GSU’s Sarah Purvis. The Eagles ended that in the bottom of the third when Lexi Allen drove in a run with a frozen rope double to the wall in right-center. The Eagles’ first hit of the day gave GSU an early 1-0 advantage.
In the fourth, Marie Fogle earned a leadoff walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Mackenzie Williams. Fogle stretched the play into two bases and a pinch hitter, Kaitlyn Johnson lofted a high fly ball down the left field line that nearly left the park. The sacrifice fly scored Fogle, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead through four innings.
Andrea Tarashuk tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth with a two-run home run down the line in left. It was her second long-ball of the season and brought Johnson in to score after she was hit by a pitch. Later in the inning, Tabby Douberley hit a ball down the right field line which found grass between two Elon defenders. An errant throw back into the infield allowed Kourtny Thomas to score from third and give the Eagles a 5-0 lead going into the seventh.
Purvis was stellar on the afternoon, tossing a two-hit shutout. She struck out nine batters, raising her season total to 204 strikeouts, two shy of the Georgia Southern school record of 206 strikeouts in a season. It was her 18th win of the season and her 11th in conference play with no losses.
The Eagles close out the 2012 regular season next weekend on the road against Furman. The series begins on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from Greenville, S.C.
Samford 5, Appalachian State 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The drama from Saturday’s matches continued into Sunday’s rubber match, as Samford and Appalachian State fought back and forth the whole game until Samford scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and then sat down the Mountaineers 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to secure the 5-4 win and take the series.
Samford (13-37, 6-15 SoCon) out-hit the visitors, 9-7, with Madison Dickey going 3-4 at the plate including a three-run homer. Robyn Harmon (4-8) earned the win in the circle, throwing 107 pitches over seven innings. Caitlin Wainright (6-9) came in relief after two innings for the Mountaineers and took the loss, while their offense was led by Meghan Smith, going 2-3 with two RBI on a two-run homer.
The teams split runs in the first inning, with Appalachian State moving ahead 1-0 in the top half courtesy of a fielding error after a steal attempt to third base. Alex Adams tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half with a two-out solo homer to left center, her second long ball of the weekend.
Another long ball put the Bulldogs ahead 4-1 in the bottom of the second as Dickey launched one to straightaway center with two on base, tying her for the team lead this season with six homers. Appalachian State would chip away at the lead and eventually tie it, scoring three runs over the next two innings. The Mountaineers brought two home in the top of the third with a two-run homer that just stayed fair over the left field pole, making the score 4-3. They tied it up at 4-4 in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single.
Fielding errors cost Appalachian State the lead in game two yesterday and a key error in the bottom of the sixth would bring home the eventual game-winning run for Samford on Sunday. With runners at first and second and one out, the Mountaineer catcher would make a wide throw into right field on a pickoff attempt at first, allowing Madeline Baker to round third and put the Bulldogs ahead 5-4. Harmon stayed in to pitch in the top of the seventh, looking to close out Appalachian State and earn the complete game win. She sat the Mountaineers down 1-2-3 as a groundout, flyout and a lineout ended the game with the Bulldogs coming out victorious.
The Bulldogs conclude the regular season next weekend with a three-game series at Western Carolina, beginning with a double header on Saturday, May 5 at noon CT.
Chattanooga 8, Furman 5
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga softball needed some late inning hits from seniors Jessica Traxler, a RBI single, and Michelle Fuzzard, a two-run homer, to propel the Lady Mocs over Furman, 8-5, on Sunday afternoon at Frost Stadium. The game served as the final home contests for seniors Vivian Morimoto, Fuzzard and Traxler as 320 fans came out to remember their careers.
With the win, Chattanooga (34-14, 17-2 SoCon) completed its home schedule at Frost Stadium with a 20-2 mark and has not dropped a league game in over two years (24-0).
Freshman outfielder Cheyenne Willis registered a multi-hit game, while Traxler and Fuzzard notched two RBI during the contest.
In the circle, Fuzzard received the start, but was chased following a grand slam crushed by Furman's Sarah Eidit in the third. Freshman pitcher Taylor Deasonn finished the contest, yielding just two hits and one run, while striking out six to improve to 20-7 on the year.
Furman (17-31, 6-15 SoCon) was led by Jessie Homesley, who was 3-for-3 on the afternoon as the Paladins totaled eight hits.
In the first, Willis began the game by beating-out an infield single to second. Sophomore outfielder Stephanie Rieck and Fuzzard drew consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs. The Lady Mocs plated just one run as Traxler was walked on five pitches.
Following a leadoff single by Alexis Galinski in the second, the Chattanooga defense came through with a double play to end the frame as second baseman Poteat made a nifty toss to shortstop Traxler, who threw the ball to first.
Chattanooga struck for four runs on just two hits in the second as sophomore outfielder Layne Rainey registered a bunt single to third and quickly swiped second. After a Willis walk, two runs were push across as a sacrifice bunt attempt by Rieck, who snapped a 15-game hitting streak, was tossed down the right field line
A double by Morimoto into the left center field gap tacked on another run as freshman pinch runner Haylee Blalock, who ran for Fuzzard after a walk, advanced to third. The final run of the frame was driven in by Traxler to extend the lead to 5-0.
During the third, back-to-back one-out singles by Ambree Muller and Nikki Legg started a rally for the Paladins. A walk to Homesley after a long at bat loaded the bases. Eidt sent the first pitch into the stands in left field to cut the Lady Mocs lead to one, 5-4. It was the first career home run for Eidt.
Furman would continue to battle back in the fifth as Homesley singled to right and Edit drew a walk. A ball sent to third was mishandled and allowed the Paladins to tie the contest at five.
In the bottom-half, junior first baseman Kasey Tydingco led off the inning with a triple to left center. Ensuring the Lady Mocs retook the lead was Traxler with a single up the middle, 6-5.
Following a single by Willis to the shortstop, Rieck moved the runner to second, but Fuzzard ensured that was unnecessary, delivering a two-run homer that curved around the left field foul pole to increase the Chattanooga advantage to 8-5.
As the crowd at Frost Stadium rose to its feet in anticipation of the final out, Deason would notch consecutive strikeouts to conclude the game.
The Lady Mocs complete the regular season with a three-game set beginning on Saturday at 1 p.m. at UNC Greensboro. The finale of the series with the Spartans in set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.