USC Upstate 1, Western Carolina 0
USC Upstate 9, Western Carolina 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina softball (11-21) dropped a pair of games to USC Upstate (25-3) Wednesday falling 1-0 and 9-1 at Cyrill Stadium.
USC Upstate 1, Western Carolina 0
Game one was a pitching duel between Western Carolina freshman pitcher Taylor Sigmon and USC Upstate pitcher Hannah Alexander. In the end, it was Alexander who won as the Spartans came away with a 1-0 victory and Alexander tossed a no-hitter for six innings.
Alexander had her perfect game going into the sixth inning but an error, allowing Jordan Fulton to reach first, blew that out of the water. Her no-hitter was rendered null and void in the seventh inning.
Megan Crowe led off the seventh inning with the Catamounts only hit in the game and set up a rally attempt for WCU. Pinch hitter Makenzi McAteer drew a walk and Western Carolina looked to be in business with runners at first and second. A ground out by Sigmon, where she almost beat out the throw to first, pushed the Catamount runners to second and third. A failed squeeze attempt home got Crowe picked off at third and Sarah Perrine struck out to end the inning and the game.
The Spartans got their only run in the game in the third inning. Meredith Barnes hit a lead off single and then would eventually score off a Western Carolina error.
Sigmon did not pitch a shutout but she also did not allow an earned run in the game. She had three strikeouts and falls to 0-6. Alexander had 12 strikeouts and improves to 10-2.
USC Upstate 9, Western Carolina 1
Just like in game one, it was Western Carolina errors that equated to runs for USC Upstate. After two quick outs by Western Carolina pitcher Jordan Garrett, confusion on a popped fly in the area between the pitcher, third base and catcher, equated to a muffed catch attempt and Shellie Robinson getting to second. A single by Cheyenne Griffin put runners at first and third and a double by Maddison Kieffer scored the pair of unearned runs by the Spartans.
Western Carolina had a huge scoring chance in the top of the second. Haley Pace had a lead off single that skipped over the fist place bag. She was pushed to second on a nice bunt by Amber Steinhardt and got to third on a wild pitch. Scotton drew a walk and there were runners at the corners. Jordan Fulton attempted to beat out a bunt attempt but she was called out at first but Scotton did move to second. Karley Harkey struck out to end the inning.
USC Upstate added a three-run homerun by Meredith Barnes in the bottom of the second inning.
Western Carolina finally got on the board in the top of the third inning. Amelia Griffin got on base to lead off thanks to a Spartan error. Griffin stole second and then scored off an RBI double by Sigmon.
After Garrett gave up a homerun to start the bottom of the third inning, she was replaced by Mallory Broome. After registering a strikeout, Broome also gave up a homerun.
Western Carolina stranded a runner in the top of the fifth inning when freshman Karley Harkey led off with a double to left center field. It was Harkey’s first double of her career. Griffin laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to move Harkey over to third but she was left on third.
USC Upstate added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Spartans an eight run lead and shorten the game to five innings.
Garret takes the loss in game two and evens her record to 9-9 on the season. Broome had four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief.
Western Carolina returns home Friday for the first of a three-game series with Southern Conference foe Chattanooga. The single game Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. with the doubleheader Saturday slated to begin at noon.
Georgia State 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team (18-16, 3-3 SoCon) fell 3-1 Wednesday afternoon to the Georgia State Panthers (20-9, 3-0 CAA) at Frost Stadium in seven innings. Despite holding the Panthers to five hits and one earned run, Chattanooga committed three errors and was held to four hits.
Georgia State got on the board first with two runs scored in the first inning. An error led to the first base runner and a single up the middle from Panters’ catcher Callie Alford plated the game’s first run. With a runner standing on third base and a walk issued to center fielder Jessica Clifton, Clifton broke for second base. Freshman Anyssa Robles (Lawrenceville, Ga.) gunned down to second base to attempt to pick off the runner, but the throw ran high and Alford scored from third.
The Lady Mocs showed life in the second inning as senior Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) teed off on the first pitch of the half, driving the solo home run over the right field fence. The round-tripper was Tydingco’s second home run of the season, cutting the Georgia State lead to 2-1.
After two innings pitched, freshman Kaisey Carson (Indianapolis, Ind.) exited the game and sophomore Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) was brought on in relief. The sophomore ran into some trouble in the top of the fourth inning but was able to work out of a bases-loaded jam to maintain a 2-1 game.
Chattanooga showed a spark in the fifth inning with two outs as freshman Alyssa Taylor (Orange, Calif.) singled to center and swiped second with senior Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) standing at the plate. Poteat drove a ball into center on the next pitch, but the senior was under the pitch just a hair too much and it was corralled by GSU’s Clifton for the final out of the frame.
The Panthers added on another run in the sixth, extending their lead to 3-1, but Deason was able to work out of another bases loaded jam to hold Georgia State to the one run scored in the top half of the stanza. That gave Chattanooga a chance to battle back, getting down to the wire in the sixth inning. The Lady Mocs put two on as Tydingco was hit by a pitch and junior Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) doubled, but a foul-out with two outs on the board ended the UTC scoring chance.
Both teams would go scoreless in the seventh inning, ending without fight from the Lady Mocs in the final frame. Carson was charged with the loss, dropping to 2-6 on the season, while Georgia State starter Kaitlyn Medlam improved to 10-3 with the complete game.
Chattanooga hits the road tomorrow, on its way to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Lady Mocs and Catamounts are set to play one game Friday before wrapping up the series with a double-header Saturday.
No. 22 Georgia 6, Georgia Southern 3
ATHENS, GA. – Georgia Southern Softball closed a historic day for the University with a 6-3 loss at No. 22 Georgia. On Wednesday morning Georgia Southern announced that it would be joining the Sun Belt Conference for the 2014-15 athletics season. Tabby Douberley’s three-run home run in the sixth frame cut the Bulldog lead to 6-3 entering the final inning of play.
After the Eagles went quietly in the first inning, Georgia answered with a pair of runs. A leadoff hit by Anna Swafford was followed later in the frame by a two out triple from Tina Iosefa. The next hitter, Kaylee Puailoa singled Iosefa home to give the Bulldogs an early advantage.
In the fourth inning, Puailoa launched a home run over the fence in right field to extend the Bulldog lead to 3-0. A single later in the inning by Christine Olney paved the way for another UGA run in the fourth.
Georgia’s lead grew to 6-0 in the fifth when Puailoa lifted her second home run of the day to the same spot in right field. She is the second opposing batter to hit two home runs in a game this year versus Georgia Southern.
Following leadoff hits in the sixth by Kourtny Thomas and Shelby Morrill, Tabby Douberley cut the UGA lead in half with a three-run bomb to right field. The senior tallied her 23rd, 24th and 25th RBIs of the season as she posted her fifth home run of the campaign. The home run is the first for Georgia Southern since March 17th when Douberley hit a home run against Minnesota.
GSU, however, went scoreless in the seventh inning and dropped the 6-3 result
Next up for the Eagles is a home series against Furman from the friendly confines of Eagle Field. Friday’s Military Appreciation Day game starts at 4 p.m. while Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 11 a.m. Saturday’s games are a “Blue Out” with all fans encouraged to wear blue to the park.