#15 Michigan 4, Samford 0

TAMPA, Fla. ---- Samford Softball closed its opening weekend with an early-morning matchup against 15th-ranked Michigan.  The Wolverines prevented the Bulldog offense from finding a rhythm as Samford fell, 4-0.

Samford (2-2) was led at the plate by Megan Dowdy and Madison Dickey, batting first and second, as they both went 2-3.  Mollie Hanson (2-1) got the start and lasted 3.1 innings, allowing only one earned run in the tough loss.

Over the weekend’s four games, Dickey went 5-11 (.455) with two RBI while Dowdy (.444) and Hannah Taylor (.364) each collected four hits.

The heart of Michigan’s (3-1) order did most of the damage, with Sierra Romero and Sara Driesenga going a combined 3-5 with two RBI out of the three-hole and cleanup spots.  Driesenga (3-1) went the full 7.0 innings in the circle as well, allowing six hits with five strikeouts.

Dowdy didn’t waste any time getting a number in the hit column, knocking a single through the left side to lead off the game.  The speedy freshman advanced to second on a groundout to the shortstop and then advanced to third on a groundout to second.  That’s as far as she would reach however, as a third groundout ended the half-inning.

In the top of the third, the Bulldogs recorded back-to-back hits with two outs looking to break the scoreless tie.  The Wolverines got out of trouble however, taking a ground ball for the force out at second.

Hanson held the Wolverines’ offense in check until they looked to break through in the bottom of the fourth, leading off the half-inning with back-to-back singles.  Kelsey Susalla reached first on a fielder’s choice as they got Mary Sbonek, pinch-running for Driesenga, out at second to put runners at the corners with one away.  Caitlin Blanchard broke Michigan through in the run column with a single down the right-field line, scoring Romero from third to make it 1-0 Wolverines.  That ended the day for Hanson on the mound as Shelby Scott came in relief with two runners on and one out.  Sierra Lawrence flied out to center as Susalla tagged up at second, advancing to third to put runners at the corners with two away.  Ashley Lane flew out to right field to end the inning as Scott prevented the Wolverines from tacking on another run.

Amy Knapp led off the Michigan half of the fifth inning with a single and Lyndsay Doyle laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position.  Nicole Sappingfield reached on an error the following at-bat as Knapp moved to third to put runners at the corners with one out.  Romero would score Knapp with a sacrifice fly, as Sappingfield moved to second with the Wolverines now up 2-0.  Driesenga singled back up the middle to score her from second, stretching the lead to 3-0, though a fly ball would end the inning as the Bulldogs now faced a three-run deficit.

Samford looked to avoid the shutout in the top of the sixth as Madison Dickey led off the inning with a single, her second of the game, and advanced to third on back-to-back groundouts.  A grounder to the shortstop kept her stranded however as the Bulldogs still trailed by three.

Misha Aldridge entered to pitch for Samford in the bottom of the sixth, looking to prevent the Wolverines from pulling away.  The senior allowed a one-out walk to Lawrence and Lane followed that up with a single to left field, putting runners at the corners with one out.  Knapp extended the lead with an RBI single to the left-field gap, scoring Lawrence and moving Lane to third.  Knapp then stole second with Doyle at the plate, who reached on a fielder’s choice as Lane was tagged out at home trying to score.  Doyle stole second but a popout ended the half-inning with Michigan now in front, 4-0.

Taylor would give the Bulldogs a shot at a comeback in the top of the seventh with a one-out infield single.  Madeline Baker came in to pinch run for Taylor and moved to second on a groundout.  Driesenga preserved the shutout however with her fifth strikeout of the game to end it with Michigan on top, 4-0.

The Bulldogs will head southeast for the first of seven SEC matchups this season, facing the Auburn Tigers on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. CT at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala.

Fordham 2, Chattanooga 1

CLERMONT, Fla.-- The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team (1-4) dropped its fourth game of the season Sunday morning on the final day of the National Training Center Invitational in Clermont, Fla. to the Fordham Rams (4-1). Starting pitcher Kaisey Carson (Indianapolis, Indiana) was charged with the loss despite giving up only two runs in 2.2 innings of work. The Rams' win over Chattanooga is their second of the season.

Scoreless through two innings, Fordham struck first with two runs in the third inning. With Carson on the hill, Fordham centerfielder Jessica Crowley smacked a solo homerun over the leftfield fence to give the Rams a 1-0 advantage. Just three batters later, shortstop Elise Fortier blasted another homerun to left, taking the Fordham lead to 2-0. Freshman Rachel Albritton (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was brought on in relief of Carson and recorded the final out of the inning.

Chattanooga answered back in the bottom of the third with a run of its own. Following back-to-back groundouts, senior Sara Poteat gapped a two-out triple to the left-centerfield fence. Junior Tyler Templet (Woodstock, Ga.) followed through in the next at-bat with an RBI single to cut the Rams' lead in half.

Going to the bottom of the seventh inning with the score standing at 2-1 in Fordham's favor, Chattanooga threatened when Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) singled to lead off the inning. Junior Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) put down a bunt to move the runner to second, but was able to beat out a throw from third base, finding herself safe at first base as well. With one out, Templet lined into a game-ending double-play.

Albrittion finished the day with 4.1 innings pitched, allowing just four hits and striking out five batters. As for the Lady Mocs' offense, Poteat, Templet and Suetsugu each recorded three hits. Rieck and Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) both recorded singles.

Chattanooga is back in action next weekend as they participate in the Tiger Invitational in Auburn, Ala. The Lady Mocs are scheduled to take on Kansas, Indiana State, Tennessee State and the hosting Tigers over the three-day weekend.

UNCG 5, George Mason 4

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Freshman Lindsay Thomas homered for the third-straight game to help UNCG softball finish a perfect 3-0 after defeating George Mason, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at the Charleston Southern Tournament. The Spartans won the tournament with two wins against George Mason and a victory against Charleston Southern.

UNCG (3-0) is off its best start since the 2004 season when the Spartans open 5-0. Lindsay Thomas finished the game 2-for-2 with the eventual game-winning home run. Thomas batted .500 (4-for-8) on the weekend with three home runs and four RBI.

Redshirt junior Raeanne Hanks earned the victory after throwing four innings, allowing just two earned runs on four hits with one strikeout. Hanks improves to 2-0 on the season.

 Junior Aisha Figueroa and sophomore Tatiana Alcala each finished the game with two hits. Figueroa also scored two runs, while Alcala scored one.

Senior Eileen Horsmon finished the weekend with a solid .444 batting average on four hits, including a double.

In the top of the first, Figueroa roped a leadoff single to left field. Figueroa stole second base for her second steal of the weekend. Alcala laid down a perfect bunt single to put runners on first and third with no outs. Alcala stole her first base of the season to set up runners at second and third. After two outs, Thomas worked a walk to load the bases. Horsmon hit a shot to second base that was bobbled leading to both runs coming across for the Spartans.

George Mason responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Julia Czarnecki walked and advanced to second base after an illegal pitch followed by Lauren McColgan reaching on an error to score Czarnecki. Brooke Blankenship worked a walk to put runners on first and second. Redshirt junior Raeanne Hanks induced two groundouts but catcher Angela Maioran tied the game with a two-out RBI single up the middle.

The Patriots took the lead in the bottom of the third after a one-out RBI double from Megan Blank to right center. Alcala made a heads up play in centerfield to get Blank out after rounding second base too far. Hanks would get out of the jam with two-straight groundouts to keep the game at 3-2.

UNCG would answer with a huge three-run fifth inning sparked by a two-run go ahead home run from Thomas. Figueroa started the inning with another infield single. After an error put runners on first and third, freshman Danielle Vega brought home Figueroa on a fielder’s choice to tie the game at 3-3.

George Mason cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth after the Patriots worked two-straight walks to open the frame. McColgan moved the runners to second and third with just one out. Brooke Blankenship hit a shot to center that Alcala tracked down for the second out but one run was able to score on the sacrifice fly. Freshman pitcher Nicole Thomas ended the threat after getting Casey Price to foul out to third.

Freshman Kelly Lupton closed the game with an easy 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh. Lupton had two strikeouts to earn her first career save.

Georgia Southern 1, Tennessee Tech 0

STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern needed just one run to best Tennessee Tech in the final game of the 2013 Eagle Round Robin Tournament. A home run by Kourtny Thomas in the fourth inning proved to be the difference as Sarah Purvis fanned 11 en route to her third win of the year. The Eagles are now 3-1 on the season while Tennessee Tech falls to 2-2.

After three and a half scoreless innings, Kourtny Thomas lashed her second home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth. The line drive shot snuck around the left field foul pole and gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh, the Golden Eagles registered their best chance of the afternoon by putting runners on first and second with just one out. Purvis struck out the next batter, but hit a pinch hitter to load the bases with two outs in the frame. Purvis, however, struck out the final batter on four pitches to nail down the win for the Eagles.

Purvis finished the afternoon with 11 strikeouts and her third win of the season in the complete-game shutout victory. She only allowed three hits on the afternoon as the junior made her case for SoCon Pitcher of the Week in the opening weekend of the season.

Next weekend Georgia Southern travels south for three games at the FGCU Tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla. The Eagles will face Southern Illinois, Wichita State, defending national champion Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast in the weekend tournament.

USC Upstate 9, Western Carolina 0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -Western Carolina softball (2-2) dropped its final game, in the Subway Upstate Classic, 9-0 in five innings to host USC Upstate (4-0) Sunday at Cyrill Stadium.

The Spartans scored in all four innings to rack up nine runs on the Catamounts and shorten the game to five innings. Sophomore pitcher Jordan Garrett picked up her second start of the tournament, and third appearance, going 2.1 innings allowing five runs on seven hits and strikeout two and falling to 1-2 on the season. Freshman Mallory Broomecame into the game in relief tossing the final 1.2 innings giving up four runs on six hit and striking out one.

USC Upstate posted one in the first, two in the second, two in the third and four in the fourth. The Spartans has 13 hits in the game.

Western Carolina picked up four hits against the Spartans with two coming from senior centerfielder Jordan Fulton.

Shemekia Scotton and Amelia Griffin were each named to the Subway Upstate Classic All-Tournament Team. Overall, in the four-game tournament, senior short-stop  Scotton and junior outfielder Griffin paced the team with seven hits a piece. Scotton and Griffin each hit about .500 in the tournament and Scotton had six RBI.

Western Carolina heads back out on the road next weekend to participate in a tournament hosted by the University of Florida February 15-17.

Furman 3, Austin Peay 1

Auburn, Ala. – Senior Stephanie Field went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while junior Lauren Collier allowed just one run in six innings in the circle to lead Furman to a 3-1 victory over Austin Peay Sunday morning in the Plainsman Invitational at Jane B. Moore Field.

Furman finished its season-opening weekend at 3-1 and clinched at least a second place finish in the five-team tournament. Austin Peay slipped to 1-2 with its second straight loss.

Field, a native of Sarasota, Fla., opened the scoring in the top of the third with a double off the left-center field wall to plate Taylor Jenkins. 

After Austin Peay's Jessica Ryan knotted the score with an RBI double in the bottom of the third, the Paladins claimed the lead for good in the top of the sixth inning.  Collier opened the inning with a single and pinch runner Alexis Galinski moved to second base when Sieara Bishop was plunked by a pitch for the second time in the game.  Ambree Muller followed with a bunt that got away from APSU's Laurel Burroughs covering second base and allowed Galinski to race home for the go ahead run.

In the seventh inning, Furman added an insurance run as Sarah Eidt opened the frame with a double into the gap and scored on Field's single to left-center.

Collier, who improved to 2-0 on the season, scattered three hits and issued just two walks while fanning four batters in her six innings of work before giving way to freshman Meaghan Houston.  The rookie lefthander allowed only a walk as she tossed a scoreless seventh inning to notch her second save of the weekend.

Houston, who appeared in all four games on the weekend, gave up just one run on two hits in nine innings of work.  Along with her two wins in the circle, Collier paced the Paladin offense batting .455 with three doubles and four RBI thru four games.  Field and Eidt each contributed two doubles in the tournament.

Furman returns to action on February 17, when it travels to Boiling Springs, N.C., to battle Gardner-Webb in an afternoon doubleheader.