Georgia Southern 6, Furman 0
Statesboro, Ga. – Sarah Purvis hurled a one-hit shutout and Georgia Southern plated four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning en route to a 6-0 victory over Furman in the opening game of a three-game weekend series on Friday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The loss snapped the Paladins' five-game winning streak and dropped Furman to 15-14 overall and 4-5 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern improved to 16-18 overall and 5-1 in the league.
Shelby Morrill and Andrea Tarashuk staked the Eagles to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of third inning with RBI singles before GSU plated four runs in the fourth. After Lauren Collier retired the first batter of the frame, Georgia Southern delivered three straight singles to chase the Paladin starter. Kaitlyn Johnson greeted reliever Shelby Parker with a two-run single to right field and the Eagles pushed across two more runs when Taylor Jenkins bobbled a ground ball with two out in the inning.
Purvis surrendered just a fifth inning single to Hannah Pace while hurling a one-hitter to improve to 9-11 in the circle. The right-hander allowed only one walk and fanned four batters in the seven-inning outing.
Morrill, Tarashuk and Lexi Allen each tallied two hits for GSU who totaled 10 base hits.
Collier suffered the loss for Furman after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in three and 1/3 innings of work. She struck out four batters and issued one walk.
The Paladins and Eagles conclude their three-game series with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday at Eagle Field.
Appalachian State 7, College of Charleston 5
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University softball defeated College of Charleston, 7-5, with a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning from Lindsay Loudermilk on Friday at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
With the win, App State improves to 13-11 overall on the season and 7-3 in the Southern Conference, while CofC falls to 15-13 overall and 6-3 in the SoCon.
Appalachian retired the first two batters of the inning before Kelsey Hodgson drove a home run over the center field fence to allow the Cougars to take a 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Sarah Warnock had a leadoff double off the right center field wall before coming around to score on a single through the right side from Loudermilk.
App State extended its lead to 3-0 when Meghan Smith hit her fourth home run of the season over the left field fence.
CofC came within one of Appalachian in the top of the second inning when the third home run of the afternoon cleared the center field fence.
The Black and Gold tacked on their fourth run of the contest when Warnock reached on a walk and touched home when Allie Cashion singled through the left side of the field as Appalachian took the 4-2 lead.
The Cougars responded in the top of the fourth when Allison Pedigo knocked the fourth home run of the contest over the right field fence to bring the College of Charleston within one.
College of Charleston hit its third home run of the game to knot the score at 4-4 in the top of the fifth inning.
App State would take the lead for the second time in the game when Warnock singled to left field and advanced to second on a Cougar error. Loudermilk reached first when she capitalized on the second CofC error of the inning, scoring Warnock.
College of Charleston tied the score in the top of the sixth inning at 5-5 with a single up the middle. Kristy Girgosian advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score when Lizzy Vaughn singled to deep center field.
The Apps sat down the Cougars in order in the top of the seventh inning, as Loudermilk recorded two outs at first base.
With one out, Warnock singled up the middle to tally her third hit of the afternoon, setting the table for Loudermilk who dug in with two outs.
Loudermilk blasted her fourth home run of the season over the right field wall as Appalachian took the 7-5 victory from College of Charleston.
Warnock went 3-for-3 on the afternoon, while Loudermilk went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. Cashion posted two hits on the day with one RBI, while Smith recorded two RBI with her home run.
Freshman Shivaun Landeros (5-4) picked up her fifth win of the season as she came in on relief to pitch four innings, allowing only two runs. Starting pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf went three innings with one strikeout.
UNCG 5, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. – Tomeka Watson became Elon softball’s all-time career hits leader today, March 29, but the feat came in 5-1 setback to local rival and Southern Conference foe UNCG. The Spartans improved to 24-7 (6-3 SoCon) on the year while the Phoenix fell to 11-18 (1-6 SoCon) at Hunt Softball Park.
Watson connected on her 230th career base hit on a single to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning. The senior from Jackson, Ga., broke a tie with Dani Concepcion (2002-05) to move atop of the all-time hits list in school history. It was the lone hit of the day for Watson as the Phoenix bats had seven hits total versus UNCG.
Raeanne Hanks (13-3) earned the complete game win after allowing only one run (earned) on those seven hits while striking out nine and walking four others. Elon’s Chelsea White (2-8) took the loss after going seven innings with five runs (two earned) allowed on 10 hits while fanning five batters.
Both teams went scoreless in the opening frame, but Elon would score first in the bottom half of the second. Sarah Little led off with a single to the shortstop and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Lauren Oldham singled to move Little to third. Carleigh Nester hit a two-out single through the left side to drive in Little and gave Elon an early 1-0 advantage.
In the top of the third, some Elon defensive miscues led to two runs by the Spartans. White forced the first two outs of the inning, but gave up a single to Danielle Vega. After Lindsay Thomas drew a free pass, Katelyn Bedwell reached on an error to score Chelsea Strandlund, who pinch ran for Vega. Heather Robb doubled to right center to drive in Thomas to make the score 2-1 before pinch hitter Tori MacReynolds popped up to end the inning.
After a scoreless fourth, UNCG plated another run in the top of the fifth to move ahead 3-1. The maroon and gold threatened in the bottom half after Watson reached on her historic hit to lead off the inning. She would advance to second on an Emily Cameron grounder to the shortstop and eventually move to third after Grace Eng reached after striking out, but moved to first on a passed ball. Eng moved into scoring position after stealing second with two out, but Hanks induced the final out of the inning on the next at bat.
The Spartans added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Allison Geiner scored on a Lindsay Thomas one-out fielder’s choice followed by Robb adding another RBI on a single down the left field line to push UNCG’s lead to four, 5-1.
Elon was able to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run at the plate. Eng and Little drew two-out walks and advanced into scoring position after a wild pitch. Oldham reached after an error by the pitcher to the give the maroon and gold some life, but Hanks forced the final batter to ground out to end the game.
Chattanooga 7, Western Carolina 5
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Chattanooga Lady Mocs (19-16, 4-3 SoCon) defeated Western Carolina (11-22, 3-7 SoCon) Friday night 7-5 to take the first game of a three-game set in Cullowhee, N.C. There were only two innings – the third and seventh innings – neither team managed to put a run on the board. Despite the rainy conditions, a five-run fourth inning was the difference in the Good Friday contest.
Both teams put a run on the board in the first inning as Chattanooga capitalized on a Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) ground out to score leadoff hitter Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) to lead to a 1-0 lead over the Catamounts, but WCU struck back in the bottom of the inning with one swing of the bat. Starting pitcher Taylor Sigmon blasted a Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) pitch over the left field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
Chattanooga took a permanent lead in the second inning on two outs as Alyssa Taylor (Orange, Calif.) singled up the middle. The freshman then stole second base and Poteat drove a ball, left out of the outside part of the plate, to left-center field to plate the speedy shortstop, pushing UTC ahead 2-1.
Deason held the Catamounts scoreless in the third and fourth innings, striking out two over the two frames, before Chattanooga exploded for five runs in the fourth inning. The Lady Mocs scored all five runs on just two hits and an error as Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) began the rally with a single, Tyler Templet (Woodstock, Ga.) and Alyssa Taylor reached on an error to bring in the first run. Poteat reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases and freshman Sam Taylor (Chickamauga, Ga.) delivered the big punch with a two-RBI single up the middle, leading to a 5-1 advantage.
After three runs scored in the inning, Sigmon was pulled from the mound and Jordan Garrett took over in the circle, but the reliever would prove to be wild out of the pen. The sophomore tossed two wild pitches in the inning, allowing two more Lady Mocs runners to cross the plate, stretching the Chattanooga lead to 7-1.
A two-run home run by WCU third baseman Haley Pace in the fourth inning cut the UTC lead to four runs and another run in the fifth led to a three-run advantage for the Lady Mocs. Chattanooga left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and the Catamounts were able to add on one more run in the bottom of the inning, but a scoreless seventh ended the three-hour melee between the two teams, 7-5.
Deason walked away with the complete-game-victory, going seven innings with six hits to improve to 13-7 on the season. The sophomore struck out five WCU batters while allowing just four earned runs to score.
Offensively, Poteat and Sam Taylor each collected two hits. Poteat rounded the bases two to score two runs and Taylor provided a game-best two RBI in the two-run victory.