UNCG 9, Bucknell 6
UNCG 8, UNCW 5
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG softball team took both games against Bucknell and UNCW on Day One of the UNCW Beach Bash Friday night at Boseman Field.  

The Spartans have won three straight games improving to 6-7 on the season. Bucknell fell to 2-4 and UNCW dropped to 6-7.

In game one, the Spartans scored nine runs on 11 hits to defeat the Bison, 9-6.

Junior Tatiana Alcala went 2-for-3 with a career high five RBI on a triple and double.

Sophomore Lacey Leary earned the victory to improve to 1-1. Leary went six innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. Lara Bean fell to 1-2 after throwing 4.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits.

UNCG struck first with four runs on three hits, including a two-out three-run triple from Alcala.  Sophomore Allison Geiner ) started the inning with an infield single and stole second base. Sophomore Lindsay Thomas and senior Katelyn Bedwell earned back-to-back walks to load the bases. Sophomore Nicole Thomas lined a single to centerfield to give UNCG a 1-0 lead. After two outs, Alcala roped a three-run triple to right center to clear the bases and give the Spartans a 4-0 lead.

Bucknell cut the lead to 4-1 after scoring a run in the third inning. With two outs and a runner on second, Kristen Zahn singled up the middle to give the Bison their first run.

In the fourth inning, Cheyanna Young doubled to centerfield to start the inning for Bucknell. After a walk, Young came home on a stolen base to make it 4-2 UNCG.

The Blue and Gold broke open the game with five runs on four hits to lead 9-2 in the fifth inning. Freshman Tory Wright earned an RBI single and Alcala picked up a two-run double to left center. Freshman Emily Lopez had a pinch-hit RBI triple down the right field line. Junior Dominique Madruga laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to score the fifth run of the inning.

The Bison would not go away scoring two runs in the sixth inning off a two-run single from Mariah Midyette.

In the seventh, Bucknell tried to rally after two outs as Zahn tripled to right field scoring a run to make it 9-5. After a walk, Young singled on a diving play by Alcala at shortstop to limit the damage to just one run. With the score 9-6, Nicole Thomas induced a fly out to give UNCG the victory.

In game two, the Blue and Gold stormed back to score five unanswered runs to defeat UNCW, 8-5.

Lindsay Thomas finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and Wright was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Bedwell and sophomore Danielle Vega each had two hits.

Nicole Thomas picked up her first win of the season after throwing five shutout innings in relief. Thomas allowed just two hits and struck out four batters in the victory. Peyton Jordan fell to 3-4 on the season after allowing eight runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings.

The Spartans scored a run in the first inning off a RBI double from Bedwell. Geiner started the game with a walk and Lindsay Thomas followed with a single up the middle. Bedwell lined a double down the left field line for her ninth RBI of the season.

The Seahawks took the lead in the bottom of the first after scoring two runs on two hits and an error lead to a run. Jessica Rappe picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

In the top of the third, Lindsay Thomas worked a walk and Bedwell doubled to right center to put runners at second and third. Wright roped a two-run double to left field to give UNCG a 3-2 advantage.

UNCW rallied back with three runs in the third inning off three hits and three costly errors by UNCG. Nella Chamblee earned an RBI single and Rappe picked up an RBI single to left field in the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Vega singled to right field to start the rally. After a fielder’s choice, Madruga worked a walk to put runners on first and second. After an out, Lindsay Thomas delivered a first-pitch shot into right center for a clutch two-run double to tie the game at 5-5. 

The Spartans would take the lead for good in the seventh scoring three runs on three hits. Wright doubled to left field to start the frame. Nicole Thomas laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Wright to third with one out. Alcala singled to short to setup runners on first and third. After Alcala stole second, Vega singled up the middle to score the go-ahead run and an errant throw gave UNCG a 7-5 lead. Madruga scored the final run on a perfect bunt down the first base line scoring Vega to make it 8-5 Spartans.

Nicole Thomas would shut the door in the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning giving UNCG the hard fought victory.

 

Georgia Southern 13, Tennessee State 1
Troy 2, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Softball took a 13-1 win over Tennessee State to earn a split on the opening day of the 2014 Eagle Classic at the friendly confines. The day started with a 2-1 loss to Troy. The Eagles face Troy and Middle Tennessee State on Saturday as the Eagle Classic continues with games set for 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.

Georgia Southern fell to 1-1 this season against the Trojans, dropping a 2-1 decision to Troy.

Troy took a 1-0 lead in the first by taking advantage of an error with one out in the frame. An RBI infield single scored the unearned run to put the Trojans on the scoreboard first.

In the third, GS cashed in a leadoff walk to tie the game at 1-1 when Shelby Morrill pounded a single up the middle to plate Breanna McLendon from second. Two runners were stranded in scoring position at the end of the inning as the Eagles drew even.

Troy scored the winning run in the sixth with a pair of two-hit singles to bring the winning run in from second.

Brooke Red worked around six hits and allowed two runs, one earned in the complete game outing. She was handed the loss to fall to 4-2 on the season.

The Eagles scored five runs in the first two innings to vault out to a big lead in Friday’s second game. A seven-run seventh inning put the game on ice for the Eagles who occupied the visiting spot on the scoreboard.

Kourtny Thomas pushed the opening run of the game across with a single in the first inning. She drove in two more in the seventh with a two-run home run. Four more runs came in during the second inning as the Eagle offense exploded to a 5-0 lead.

Tennessee State hit a pair of doubles in the third to post their first and only run of the game.

Another Georgia Southern run scored in the fifth behind a sacrifice fly by Johnson to score Thomas, making it a 6-1 game.

Four home runs in the seventh including bombs by Morgan Robinson, pinch hitter Savanah Coon, Emily Snider and Thomas gave the Eagles a 13-1 victory.

Marla Thompson scored her second win of the season, working six innings and scattering nine hits while allowing the one run. Allie Miles came in to work the bottom of the seventh and posted a strikeout along with two walks to nail down the Georgia Southern victory.

Eastern Illinois 2, Appalachian State 1
Appalachian State 3, Colgate 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Appalachian State University softball began the Charleston Southern Invitational at 9 a.m. with the first game of the day against the Eastern Illinois Panthers and would fall 2-1. In the second game of the morning, App State would challenge the Colgate Raiders and win 3-2 on a walk-off sac-fly.
The Panthers (10-5) would strike first in the bottom half of the first inning on an RBI single from Hannah Cole to drive in Jennette Isaac. Sarah Warnock would end the threat by throwing out Cole trying to steal second base.

Ashley Seering would rope the first single of the game for the Mountaineers (3-10) in the top of the second. Seering would proceed to steal second base followed by an Alex Sohl walk, but the Mountaineers would leave both runners stranded. Shivaun Landeros would allow just a single and nothing more in the bottom half of the inning.

App State would go down in order in the top half of the third. Landeros would tally two strikeouts in the inning and move quickly through the bottom half of the third. Warnock led off the fourth with a base hit, but the inning would end with Seering lining out to shortstop and Warnock would be doubled off of first base. After allowing a single, Landeros got April Markowski to line out in an unassisted double play after a great snag at first base by Lindsay Loudermilk

After going down in order in the fifth, Landeros walked just one in the bottom half and used her fourth strikeout and timely pitching to send the game to the top of the sixth. Cara Parker (Lake Park, Ga./Lowndes) worked a walk followed by Warnock being hit by a pitch to start the sixth for the Mountaineers. The Apps would finally break through on Hanna Mennenga when Loudermilk hit a ground ball up the middle with the umpire ruling Hannah Rachor was bobbling the ball at second base. Everybody was ruled safe on the play with Parker scoring the tying run.

For the Panthers in the bottom of the sixth, Reynae Hutchinson would double down the left field line and drive in Brooke Owens to regain the lead 2-1. Sohl would start the inning getting hit by the pitch followed by Ashley Best earning a base on balls. Parker would then draw a walk, but App State would leave them loaded and Ellie Manriquez , pinch hitting for Dani Heichen, would ground out to third base.

Landeros (2-7) pitched six innings allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out four batters.

Playing in their first game of the season, the Raiders’ (0-1) Katie Bushee led off the game with a single, but Sydney Laws (Brownwood, Texas/Brownwood) was able to strand her at third base and escape the first inning unscathed. Cynthia Gomez got the Apps (4-10) started with a leadoff single to start the first. Gomez stole second and would advance to third, but App State couldn’t push her across.

In the second, Laws would set the Raiders down in order in a relatively quick inning of work. The Mountaineer bats started to heat up in the second. Best drew a one out walk to set up Johnson’s RBI triple into the right field corner. Johnson would score on the play as the result of an error and the Apps would take an early 2-0 lead. Laws would let up a single, but shutdown the Raiders in the third and keep them scoreless. Heichen would connect on her first hit of the day on an infield single. Parker later doubled to left center field, but Heichen was thrown out attempting to score all the way from first base.

The Raiders would get on the board in the fourth inning. Gillian Murray would double off the center field wall and later advance to third base. Tara Grennan would hit a sac-fly to Seering in right field to score Murray from third and cut the App lead to 2-1. Brigit Ieuter would set down the Apps in order in the fourth inning. Colgate would post runs in back-to-back innings to tie the game. Bushee hit an RBI triple to drive in Tera Vaughn from second base who earlier came into pinch run to tie the game 2-2.

The pace of the game picked up with quick work in the fifth and sixth innings. Loudermilk hit a towering fly ball to right field it held up just enough for the right fielder to make the catch and end the sixth inning. Laws worked quick and effective in the seventh. Seering started the seventh with an infield single followed by an error in Best’s at bat to give the Apps first and second. Terry pinch ran for Seering and stole third base with Best advancing on a wild pitch. The bases would become loaded when Johnson would be hit by the pitch. Warnock pinch hit and would hit a sac-fly to center field to drive in Terry and win the game for the Apps, 3-2.

 

Chattanooga 1, Nicholls State 0
Chattanooga 5, Ohio 2
GULFPORT, Miss. – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team claimed its seventh and eighth consecutive victories Friday evening with wins over Nicholls State and Ohio in Gulfport, Miss., at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Softball Classic.  Chattanooga topped Nicholls State 1-0 with junior Taylor Deason recording the shutout, and rallied back to hand Ohio a 5-2 loss – just its third loss of the season.

Chattanooga got off to a good start in the Classic with a 1-0 shutout-win over Nicholls State to begin the day Friday.  While being held to just three hits in the game, the Mocs capitalized on a scoring opportunity in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. 

Sophomore Sam Taylor walked and stole second to put the Mocs into a good position early.  Sophomore Anyssa Robles followed up with a walk and Taylor advanced to third on an illegal pitch.  With runners on the corners, sophomore shortstop Criket Blanco lifted a high-fly to deep center.  Caught just a few steps shy of the fence, Taylor was able to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly.

Over the next five innings, Deason allowed the Colonels just one hit and cruised to her fifth win of the season.  The shutout was her first solo-shutout of the season.  The junior whiffed six batters and issued just one free pass in seven innings of work.

In the first inning of seven complete, things didn’t look promising for the Mocs.  With starting pitcher Katie Henderson in the circle for Chattanooga, the Bobcats raked three hits for two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.

After a rocky start, Henderson settled in and carved up the Ohio lineup with great pitch-command and selection.  Keeping the Bobcats off balance, Henderson allowed just three hits past the first inning and struck out seven Ohio batters. 

That took care of things defensively.  The offense then snapped out of its sleep and backed the sophomore’s great performance to hand her a fourth win.

With one out in the top of the fifth inning, with Chattanooga trailing 2-0, freshman Jesslyn Stockard crushed a solo-homerun to centerfield to cut the Ohio lead in half.  Then with two outs, after Stockard’s third round-tripper of the season, senior Kaiti Dutton continued the rally with a triple slammed to the right-center gap.  Sam Taylor singled up the middle to tie the game at 2-2, driving in Dutton, and Alyssa Taylor went deep to right-center to put the Mocs up 4-2 on a two-run shot.  The homerun was Taylor’s fifth of the season.

The Mocs tacked on one insurance run in the seventh inning with Dutton doubling to center, her second hit of the afternoon.  Sam Taylor then singled to move the senior to third and Alyssa Taylor popped a sac-fly to center to score the speedy outfielder.

Henderson slammed the door on the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh by retiring the side in order – including a strikeout swinging.

 

Robert Morris 3, Furman 2
Furman 5, Cleveland State 0
Rock Hill, S.C. – Taylor Jenkins belted two home runs and Lauren Collier tossed a three-hit shutout to lead Furman to a 5-0 victory over Cleveland State on the opening day of the Combat Invitational at Winthrop University on Friday afternoon.  The Paladins dropped their opening game of the day to Robert Morris, 3-2.

In the bottom of the first inning, Ambree Muller reached on a two-out error and Jenkins capitalized for the Paladins by launching a Susan Knight pitch over the centerfield wall to stake Furman to a 2-0 lead.  Just two innings later, Jenkins came to bat with two outs once again and lined a solo homer to left-centerfield to up the lead to 3-0.

Hannah Pace belted her first homer of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning and Nikki Legg drove in another insurance run with a sixth-inning single to right field for the final 5-0 margin.

Collier, who improved to 2-3 on the season, scattered three hits in a complete-game effort while fanning eight batters and issuing four walks.  The senior backed up her pitching by going 3-for-3 at the plate with a double.

Knight (1-4) suffered the loss for the Vikings, allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings in the circle.  She walked one batter and fanned five.  The right-hander also paced Cleveland State (4-5) at the plate going 1-for-1 with a pair of walks.

In the opening game of the tournament, Tess Apke hammered a two-run homer to center in the top of the sixth to give Robert Morris (10-5) a 2-1 lead and the Colonials held off a seventh-inning Furman rally to down the Paladins, 3-2.

Natalie Clemmons second homer of the season put Furman ahead in the third inning before Apke handed the lead to the Colonials in the sixth.  After Robert Morris added a run in the top of the seventh, Furman mounted a comeback.  Jenkins singled to start the frame and scored on Hannah Pace’s double down the left field line with one out.  Clemmons followed with a base on balls, but Colonials’ starter Nicole Sleith (6-2) fanned the next two Paladin batters to secure the victory for Robert Morris.

Sleith fanned eight batters while allowing just two runs on three hits in a complete-game performance.  Chelsea Evans and Cassie Show each collected a pair of hits for RMU.

Shelby Parker (3-3) took the loss for Furman after giving up three runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings.  She struck out nine batters without allowing a walk.

Furman (5-7) continues Combat Invitational play on Saturday when it faces Wagner at 1 p.m. and Northern Colorado at 5 p.m.

 

UAB 9, Western Carolina 0
No. 18 Georgia 9, Western Carolina 3
ATHENS, Ga. - Western Carolina softball (3-10) was dropped both games in day one action at the Sixth Annual Bulldog Invitational falling 9-0 to UAB and holding strong but falling to No. 18 Georgia 9-3.

The Catamounts will get a second chance against UAB on Saturday as it faces the Blaze at 10 a.m. Western Carolina will also take on St. John's at 5:30 p.m.

Starting pitcher Jordan Garrett had a rocky start against the Blaze as she gave up four of the eight first inning runs UAB scored. Garrett gave up four runs on three hits, adding a walk, before she was replaced by Mallory Broome.

Broome would yield four more runs in the bottom of the first before the Blaze were retired. In the second inning UAB tacked on an additional run before Broome settled down and held the Blaze scoreless in the next three ensuing innings. The game was halted after five innings, due to the International Tie-Breaker rule in which the game is halted if one team leads by eight or more runs after five innings.

The Catamounts did string together four hits against UAB. Amelia Griffin, Amber Kimrey, Brooke Coggins and Makenzi McAteer each had a hit in the game. Garrett took the loss.

Western Carolina held strong against Top-25 Georgia and even took the early 1-0 lead in the contest. After two scoreless innings, Griffin drew a lead-off single and scored on an RBI triple by sophomore shortstop Karley Harkey. The triple bagger was Harkey's second triple of the season.

Freshman Courtney Buchanan tossed a gem in the first three innings holding the high-octane Bulldogs scoreless and giving up just two hits through three. Georgia scratched the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring three runs to take the lead.

Buchanan was pulled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning for Garrett who battled for the final two outs. Georgia looked to get a fourth run in the fourth but a bang-bang play at home, into the waiting glove of freshman catcher Kara Salvo for the final out of the inning.

The gritty youthful Catamounts proved what they have shown this entire young season - they have the fighting spirit. The showed it in the top of the fifth scoring two runs to knot the game at three. Salvo picked up a one out walk and was lifted for pinch runner Lexi Ross. Taylor Sigmon followed with a single moving Ross to second. Ross scored on a Georgia error that allowed Courtney Price to reach first. Back-to-back wild pitches moved Sigmon and Price two bases and then Sigmon scored for the second run.

Georgia proved why it is ranked in the Top-25 by unleashing for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Garrett went one inning, Broome came to the game. Broome was the third Catamount pitcher to see action in the game. Broome went two thirds of an inning giving up four runs on two hits. Garrett take the loss as she gave up the go-ahead runs after the game was tied at three and falls to 1-6 on the season.

Sigmon tossed the bottom of the sixth inning and shut down the Bulldogs. She had two strikeouts and didn't allow a hit.