Western Carolina 5, Georgia Southern 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball (18-31, 8-13 Southern Conference) picked up its third Southern Conference series win of the season taking the rubber match against Georgia Southern (24-25, 10-7 SoCon) 5-2 Sunday at the Catamount Softball Complex.
Georgia Southern jumped on the board in the top of the first inning. Western Carolina starting pitcher Jordan Garrett gave up a lead-off walk to Alexa Lewis who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lexi Allen. With two outs, designated player Shelby Morrill hit a two run homerun over the left centerfield wall.
Trailing 2-0, Western Carolina jumped on Georgia Southern starting pitcher Sarah Purvis, who posted a shutout against the Catamounts in the Eagles’ 4-0 win Saturday, lighting up the scoreboard for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Junior Amelia Griffin got things started for Western Carolina in the fourth inning leading off with a single and promptly stole second. With one out, Shemekia Scotton reached first on a fielder’s choice and Griffin moved to third. The Eagles’ second fielder’s choice play allowed Taylor Sigmon to reach first and Griffin to score, with Scotton moving to third, for the first Catamount run. Amber Steinhardt’s two RBI single gave the Catamounts its first lead of the game, 3-2. The Catamounts tacked on one more run thanks to an RBI double by Haley Pace that scored Steinhardt.
Sigmon’s solo homerun would put the Catamounts’ fifth run on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was Sigmon’s seventh long ball of the season tying her for the team lead with sophomore catcher Heather Chastain.
After giving up the lead-off walk and the homerun in the first inning, Catamount hurler Garrett took control of the game, with some strong defensive help in the field. Over the course of the next six innings, Georgia Southern had just three base runners, one by a Catamount error, a double Kaitlyn Johnson and Lewis reaching first after getting hit by a pitch.
Garrett struck out eight batters in the complete games yielding two runs on two hits and walked just one. She improves to 11-11 on the season.
Sigmon and Steinhardt each went 2-for-3 in the game. Eagles’ pitcher Purvis falls to 11-12 on the year.
Appalachian State 5, Furman 3
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University softball polished off the series sweep of Furman as it defeated the Paladins, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
With the win the Mountaineers improve 24-16 overall on the season, while Furman falls to 22-24 overall and 7-10 in the Southern Conference
The Black and Gold remain perfect at home, boasting a 14-0 record and improved to 16-5 in league play to stay atop the standings.
App State came out strong for game three against the Paladins as they sat down the Furman offense in order before taking the early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Sarah Warnock was hit by a pitch before Dani Heichen laid down a bunt single to put runners on first and second. Lindsay Loudermilk advanced the runners into scoring position for senior Allie Cashion with a hard hit grounder to second base.
Cashion line a single up the middle to score both Warnock and Heichen, allowing the Apps to take the 2-0 lead over the Paladins.
A walk and a double off the center field wall brought Furman within one of the Mountaineers in the top of the third inning.
The Paladins loaded the bases with a walk and back-to-back single to opposite fields before a wild pitch would knot the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning.
Furman took its first lead of the game when Hannah Pace laid down a suicide squeeze to score Taylor Jenkins from third base.
Appalachian responded to Furman in the bottom of the fourth inning when it scored three unearned runs with two outs. Caroline Rogers led off the inning with a single through the left side and Pepper Butler drew a walk before pinch hitter Ellie Manriquez reached first to load the bases on a Furman error.
Loudermilk brought in the first run of the inning when she was hit by a pitch for the second time in the contest before Cashion lined her second single of the day to drive in two runs for the Apps and give the Black and Gold the 5-3 lead.
The Furman offense was highlighted by Sieara Bishop who was the only Paladin to tally a multi-hit game as she went 2-for-3, while Clemmons and Pace added one RBI a piece.
Cashion led the Mountaineer line up as she went 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBI, while Loudermilk added the final RBI and Heichen went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored twice for App State.
Starting pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf (16-9) earned the win in game three as she polished off her second conference sweep of the year. Schoelkopf tossed six complete innings with five strikeouts, while Shivaun Landeros threw one inning of relief to earn her second save of the season.
Samford 3, Elon 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford softball clinched its first SoCon series of the season Sunday afternoon at Samford Softball Field, shutting out Elon 3-0 behind yet another great performance by Shelby Scott in the circle.
A three-run fourth inning was all Samford (13-31, 5-13 SoCon) needed as the Elon (15-28, 5-13 SoCon) lineup could not get anything going offensively . After throwing a five-inning no hitter in game one yesterday, Scott (4-13) went the full 7.0 innings Sunday allowing only one hit while stranding five Phoenix base-runners. Over 14.1 innings pitched this weekend, Scott allowed only five hits and two earned runs.
Game-two winner Chelsea White (3-13) took the loss Sunday, throwing the opening 3.1 innings with three earned runs off three hits. Kayla Caruso threw 2.2 shutout innings behind her but the offense would fail to earn a hit past the fourth inning.
Both teams would go hitless through the opening three frames, until Elon’s Lauren Oldham broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out single in the top of the fourth. Oldham would make a costly running mistake in the next at-bat however, as Caitlin O’Shea flied out to Megan Dowdy in left, who caught Oldham too far off first, firing over to Rachel Bickert covering for the 7-3 double play to end the half-inning.
Kayla Shaffer broke up White’s no-hit bid in the bottom half of the fourth, dropping a leadoff single into shallow right field. Shaffer stole second and Callie Brister pulled a single through the left side, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. With Arica Dykes pinch-running for Brister at first, Alex Adams laid down a bunt for the squeeze play, scoring Shaffer while Dykes advanced to third and Adams strolled to second as the Bulldogs led 1-0. Scott would add another run to help her own cause, hitting a fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly that scored Adams and moved Dykes to third. Rachel Bickert made it a three-run game with an RBI single into right field, which ended White’s outing in the circle. Caruso entered to stop the bleeding, forcing a popup and lineout as Samford now lead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning.
Samford looked to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with only one out, but a fly ball and popup would prevent the Bulldogs from adding to their 3-0 lead, meaning the potential tying run would be in the hole for Elon in the seventh. Scott didn’t give them any hope for a potential comeback, as the Phoenix went three up, three down with Samford earning the series win.
Chattanooga 13, UNCG 9
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team (26-21, 10-8 SoCon) downed the UNCG Spartans (33-13, 10-7 SoCon) 13-9 Sunday afternoon at Frost Stadium to claim the series 2-1. The freshman combination of Alyssa Taylor fueled the Lady Mocs offense and Kaisey Carson was untouchable in the circle in the late inning of Sunday’s win.
The Spartans found their way onto the board first in the first inning on the heels of two Chattanooga errors. A fielding error allowed leadoff hitter Aisha Figueroa to reach first and a fielder’s choice from Lindsay Thomas gave UNCG one out. Katelyn Bedwell doubled in the following at-bat to place two runners on. A walk issued to Heather Robb loaded the bases and a throwing error would allow two Spartans to score.
Chattanooga answered back in the bottom of the second inning as freshman Sam Taylor (Chickamauga, Ga.) walked and Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) reached on a fielder’s choice and throwing error that allowed Taylor to reach third. With runners on the corners, freshman Anyssa Robles (Lawrenceville, Ga.) gapped a two-run single to right-center to tie the game 2-2. Senior Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) then reached on an error to score a third run.
Freshman Alyssa Taylor (Orange, Calif.) continued the inning with a two-run, bases-loaded double to right to score two runs and Sam Taylor followed up with a double of her own to score two more runs. The double from the Chickamauga, Ga., native extended her hitting streak to 13 games and gave the Lady Mocs a 7-2 lead at the end of one inning.
The Spartans struck for four runs on three hits and an error to bring the lead within one run. Chattanooga’s lead shriveled to 7-6 as a walk and two singles were issued to three of the inning’s first four batters. The one-out RBI single up the middle off the bat of Allison Geiner was the only earned run of the inning charged to sophomore starting pitcher Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) as a two-out error extended the inning.
The Lady Mocs added an insurance run in the bottom of the second inning, extending the lead to 8-6, with senior Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) finding her way on base with one out. A wild pitch moved the senior up to second and a single off the bat of Sarah Beth Roberts (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) allowed Tydingco to cross the plate.
The Spartans regained the lead in the top of the third inning as freshman Kaisey Carson (Indianapolis, Ind.) came on in relief of Deason to begin the inning. Back-to-back infield hits put two on base. The two hits were followed up by two outs, but two straight RBI singles from Figueroa and Lindsay Thomas plated three UNCG base runners. Carsopn was able to work out of the tough inning with a groundout to second, keeping the lead with one run.
After back-to-back scoreless halves in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, Chattanooga tied the game 9-9 in the fourth when redshirt freshman Jenny Garcia teed off on a pitch on the inside part of the plate. The solo home run was Garcia’s second of the season, making her the third Lady Mocs to have multiple home runs on the season. As a team, Chattanooga has now hit 14 home runs.
The Lady Mocs added to the lead in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, courtesy of Robles, to score Sam Taylor from third base. Roberts delivered the big hit with two outs and the third baseman drilled a two-run double to the left-center gap two plate Poteat and Tydingco, extending the lead to 12-9.
Suetsugu led off the sixth inning with a single to center and Alyssa Taylor bunted her way on to board two. Sam Taylor followed up with her third hit of the day, a double to the right-center gap, to score UTC’s 13th run of the contest.
Carson came out in the seventh and tossed her fourth consecutive scoreless inning to put the Spartans away and earn her fourth win of the season. Carson ended the day with five innings pitched and just three runs scored. No runs were charged to the Indianapolis, Ind., native’s ERA.
Alyssa Taylor finished the day 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI while Sam Taylor was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. The Chickamauga, Ga., native's hitting streak now sits at 13 games.