Furman 8, Towson 2
Furman 8, Towson 4
Greenville, S.C. – Sophomore Taylor Jenkins batted in six runs, including a three-run homer in game two, and Lauren Collier went 4-for-5 at the plate to lead Furman to an 8-2, 8-4 doubleheader sweep of Towson in non-conference softball action on Tuesday at Pepsi Stadium.
The sweep gave Furman five wins in its last seven outings and improved the Paladins to 13-13 on the season. The Tigers slipped to 14-14-1.
GAME 1
In game one, Ambree Muller belted her team-leading fifth home run of the season to erase a 2-0 deficit and the Paladins plated four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to top Towson 8-2.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first on Macie McGeehan's two-run double to left-center after two walks and a Paladin error had loaded the bases. Towson held the lead until the fifth inning when reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week Sieara Bishop reached on a fielding error to open the frame, and two batters later Muller hammered an 0-1 pitch to straightaway center field to knot the game at 2-2. Collier and Jenkins both reached on singles and Furman grabbed the lead when Hannah Pace's routine grounder to second base skipped off the second baseman's glove into center field allowing both base runners to score.
Nikki Legg opened the sixth inning with a single through the middle, moved to second base on a passed ball and scored when Bishop followed with a double into the gap. Natalie Clemmons and Collier drew walks to load the bases and Stephanie Field and Jenkins worked bases loaded walks to plate two more runs. Another fielding error on a Pace grounder allowed the fourth run of the frame to score as the Paladins increased their lead to 8-2.
After allowing two runs, one earned, in the first inning, Collier (6-6) scattered four singles over her final six innings of work to cap the complete game. The junior allowed just one earned run on five hits while fanning seven batters and issuing just two walks. She went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a base on balls.
Muller finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and Bishop went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs.
Starter Missy McCormick suffered the loss for Towson to fall to 5-5 on the season. She allowed eight runs, five earned, on nine hits over five 1/3 innings of work.
GAME 2
Furman rallied from behind twice in the second game of the doubleheader to claim an 8-4 victory and complete the sweep of the Tigers.
After Jillian Donnelly's RBI single staked Towson to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, the Paladins exploded for three runs in the bottom of the frame. Clemmons drew a one-out walk and Collier reached on a two-out base on balls to set the table for Jenkins who belted an Ambar Hickman offering over the scoreboard in left field for her fourth homer of the season to give Furman a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers regained the lead by scoring on a passed ball in the second inning and plating a pair of third inning runs on a Donnelly grounder and Bina Abbott single.
Furman took the advantage for good in the bottom of the third with four runs of its own. Muller began the frame with a bunt single and advanced to second on Collier's line drive up the middle. Jenkins notched Furman's third consecutive hit by lining a triple into the right-center field gap to score both runners and give the Paladins a 5-4 lead. After reliever Katie Lingmai hit Taylor Collins on her second pitch of her outing, Jenkins scored on a throwing error by the Towson third baseman when Furman attempted a double steal. Legg capped the four-run fourth with a sacrifice fly to extend the cushion to 7-4.
Freshman Katie Steinhaus delivered a pinch-hit, RBI single in the sixth inning for the final 8-4 margin.
Reliever Meaghan Houston, who entered the game in the top of the third, tossed five shutout innings and allowed just three hits to pick up the victory and improve to 5-5 in the circle. The left-hander did not allow a walk while striking out one batter.
Collier went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs and a walk in game two. Jenkins finished 2-for-4 with a triple, homer and career-high five RBI.
Hickman absorbed the loss for the Tigers to drop to 4-2. She surrendered six runs on five hits and three walks in two-plus innings in the circle. Kelli Lyons went 2-for-4 with two runs to pace the Towson offense.
The Paladins jump back into SoCon play this weekend with a three-game series at UNCG on Saturday and Sunday.
Memphis 3, Samford 1
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ---- A potential seventh-inning comeback fell just short as Samford dropped a tough 3-1 road contest Tuesday night in Memphis.
Samford (9-14, 1-5 SoCon) had opportunities to score but could not capitalize, stranding eight runners on base. Alex Adams went 1-3 at the plate, earning a hit in her first at-bat to extend her current hitting streak to six games. Three of Samford’s six hits were doubles while Abby Adams drove in the Bulldogs’ lone run off a sixth-inning single. Shelby Scott (0-4) earned the loss in the circle, throwing 2.0 innings while allowing three earned runs while Caitlin Bice threw 4.0 shutout innings in relief, only allowing one hit.
Memphis (12-17, 3-3 C-USA) earned all three of their runs in the second inning, which proved enough to win the close contest. Ijiah Hargrove and Kelly Braman each earned a pair of hits with Hargrove driving in two of the Tigers’ three runs. Ellen Roberts (6-11) went the distance in the circle to earn the complete-game win.
In the bottom of the second with one out, a pair of hits and a walk in between loaded the bases for Memphis and they drove home the game’s opening run off a line-drive sacrifice fly to Caroline Seay in right field. The speedy Hargrove followed with a two-run triple to the left-field gap, extending the Memphis lead to 3-0 with two away. A strikeout ended the inning with Samford in an early three-run hole.
In the top of the fourth, Alex Adams drew a leadoff walk and Shelby Scott was only a few feet shy of a home run as a double caromed off the left-field wall to put two in scoring position with nobody out. A flyout to shallow center was too close to score Arica Dykes, pinch-running at third, and back-to-back popups left the two in scoring position as the Bulldogs failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity.
Megan Dowdy led off the top of the sixth with a double to shallow left that was misplayed by the Memphis left fielder and, later with two outs, Abby Adams drove her home with a single to left field and advanced to second on an error to make the score 3-1. Misha Aldridge was walked as a pinch hitter but a flyout ended the inning though the Bulldogs were now within two runs after 5 1/2 innings.
Memphis went three up, three down in the bottom of the sixth as the Bulldogs headed into the seventh still trailing by two. Callie Brister hit a sharp two-out double down the left-field line and Megan Dowdy reached off an infield error to put runners at the corners. A hard-hit fly ball to center field hung up just enough for the third out, stranding the potential tying run on first as the Bulldogs fell, 3-1.
Tomorrow, Samford heads to Oxford, Mississippi to face the Ole Miss Rebels (18-15, 1-5 SEC). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.
No. 13 LSU 8, Georgia Southern 0
No. 13 LSU 3, Georgia Southern 2
BATON ROUGE, LA. – Georgia Southern Softball dropped a pair of games to No. 13 LSU on Tuesday night as the non-conference portion of spring break came to an end. GSU fell 8-0 in five innings to the Tigers in game one, but looked much better in game two coming up on the short-end of a 3-2 result. The Eagles return to Southern Conference play on Saturday afternoon at College of Charleston.
- GAME ONE -
LSU scored five runs in the second inning to blow open the series opener. Back-to-back home runs opened the scoring while a two-run triple by A.J. Andrews made the score 4-0. A single later in the frame drove Andrews in to make it a 5-0 lead for the Bayou Bengals.
Bianka Bell started the fifth inning with a leadoff home run on the first pitch to extend the lead to 6-0 after relief pitcher Brooke Red held the Tigers scoreless for her first two innings of work. A walk-off single by Lauren Houston scored two more Tigers and gave LSU the 8-0 run-rule win to open the day.
- GAME TWO –
The Eagles turned it around in game two, holding LSU to six total hits as the Bayou Bengals could score just three runs.
Georgia Southern drew first blood to start game two with a two RBI double by Tabby Douberley in the first inning. In the bottom half of the frame, LSU manufactured a pair of their own runs to tie the game at 2-2 through an inning of play.
A double in the third to the gap in left scored another LSU run in the third to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. Starting pitcher Allie Miles worked the first frame, but was lifted for Purvis who allowed just one run over the next five innings.
In the top of the sixth, Georgia Southern would threaten after a leadoff walk to Kourtny Thomas, followed by a Shelby Morrill single that put two ducks on the pond with no outs. A ground ball to the pitcher by Douberley resulted in a fielder’s choice while another ground out by Andrea Tarashuk moved the batters up a base when the second out was recorded. A walk to pinch hitter Savanah Coon loaded the bases for freshman catcher A.J. Hamilton. A strikeout, however, would quell the Eagle threat in the sixth and strand three runners on base.
In the top of the seventh, Alexa Lewis came a few feet from the tying run when she blasted a majestic fly ball to the warning track which was hauled in by the centerfielder. That would be the final opportunity for the Eagles who fell to 14-16 on the season while LSU improved to 25-5.
Next up for the Eagles is a trip to College of Charleston this weekend for a return to conference play. The Eagles face the Cougars beginning on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from the Patriots Point Complex.