Chattanooga 6, Furman 2Chattanooga 3, Furman 0CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team delighted fans at Frost Stadium with a couple of wins Saturday afternoon over Southern Conference foe Furman. Chattanooga was 6-2 winners in the first game, and junior pitcher Taylor Deason was the start of the second games with a 3-0 one-hitter against the Paladins.
Furman jumped on the board first with two quick innings in the first inning. With two batters reaching on two errors to lead off the game, Paladins first baseman Elise Smith doubled to center to score both base runners.
After a scoreless second, the Mocs exploded for five runs to take a 5-2 advantage. Senior Kaiti Dutton singled to lead off and sophomore Samt Taylor walked to put two aboard. Sarah Beth Roberts singled to shortstop to load the bases and sophomore Anyssa Robles blooped a single to right to score one. In turn, Jenny Garcia lined a bases-clearing three-RBI double to right to put UTC up 4-2. The fifth run of the inning crossed the plate when Stephanie Rieck singled to left to bring Garcia home.
The Mocs added on their final fun of the game in the bottom of the fifth on another hit from Rieck. With Blanco on at second after a walk and groundout, the senior pulled a double to right-center to bring Blanco to the plate.
Starting pitcher Katie Henderson came away with the win, claiming her seventh victory of the season. The Hixson, Tenn., native allowed no earned runs and struck out six en route to the 6-2 topping. Furman starter Lauren Collier was handed the loss – her sixth of the season.
Chattanooga’s good fortune carried over into the second game on the back of Deason. The junior hurled seven innings of scoreless softball to record her second solo-shutout of the season after a near no-hitter.
All three of the Mocs’ runs came in the third inning after freshman Jesslyn Stockard reached base on a walk. Dutton walked with two outs on the board and Sam Taylor walked in the following at-bat to load the bases. Roberts delivered the first blow with a single to center to score pinch runner Marina Wilkerson from third. Alyssa Taylor followed up with a single to left to drive in Dutton, and Robles finished up the scoring frame with a single to right to drive home Roberts.
After allowing a runner to reach base on a walk in the third inning, Deason went on to retire the next 13 batters in the Furman lineup. The junior allowed just five base runners all evening and was successful in stranding four on base. The second base runner of the game was caught stealing second.
Deason carried her no-hitter into the seventh inning. With two outs and one runner on, Paladins’ third baseman Natalie Clemmons singled to left to break up the no-no, but the Mocs’ hurler induced a lineout on the next pitch to shut Furman down 3-0.
Appalachian State 6, Western Carolina 2Western Carolina 5, Appalachian State 0BOONE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball (13-17, 3-2 SoCon) split a Southern Conference doubleheader at Appalachian State (10-16, 2-2 SoCon) Saturday falling 6-2 in the first game before bouncing back to shut out the Mountaineers 5-0 in game two.
Western Carolina out-hit Appalachian State 6-5 but couldn’t overcome two big innings, in the second and third, as Appalachian State took game one, 6-2.
The Mountaineers took an early 1-0 lead with one pitch as Appalachian State’s Sarah Warnock took Catamount pitcher Jordan Garrett’s first offering over the center field wall. Garrett then gave up a double to Cynthia Gomez but came back to get a strike out and fly out. During the fly out by Ashley Seering Gomez was thrown out trying to move to third.
Western Carolina took a short-lived 2-1 lead in the top of the second. With one out, Heather Chastain hit a double to left center. Chastain was lifted for pinch runner Lexi Ross and back-to-back walks by Amber Kimrey and Makenzi McAteer loaded the bases. Whitney Haywood hit into a fielder’s choice and Ross was erased at home for the first out. Griffin hit a two RBI single to right field plating Kimrey and McAteer.
Garrett breezed through the bottom of the second with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out. The third and fourth were not so easy for Garrett. Appalachian State rallied with two outs, in the third, scoring three runs, and also benefited from two Western Carolina errors. The Mountaineers added a pair of runs in the fourth off a homerun from Caroline Rogers.
Garrett falls to 5-10 on the season giving up three earned runs, on five hits, and struck out six. Shivaun Landeros takes the win for Appalachian State improving to 7-7 on the year. Griffin went 2-for-4 for WCU at the plate.
Freshman Courtney Buchanan tossed five shutout innings, freshman Kara Salvo went 3-for-3 with a homerun, two runs scored and an RBI and Taylor Sigmon earned her fourth save in two innings of relief combining to help Western Carolina shut out Appalachian State in game two, 5-0.
Savlo set the tone early when she hit a two out homerun, her fourth homerun of the year, on the first pitch offered by Mountaineer pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf, in the top of the first.
Buchanan then settled in to work around a pair of jams in the third and fourth inning to keep Appalachian State off the scoreboard. A Mountaineer walk and single turned harmless in the third when Buchanan forced a fly out and a pop up to end the inning.
Buchanan got into a bit of pickle again in the fourth when a Catamount error and walk put ASU runners on first and second again. The Catamount defense picked her up when Salvo took a liner going to third stepped on the bag and then threw the runner out at first for a double play.
The Catamounts added their second run of the game in the top of the fifth. With one out, freshman Lexi Ross hit a bloop single to left field. She scored on an RBI single past third base by Salvo.
Western Carolina all but put the game away when it plated three runs in the top of the seventh. Brooke Coggins, who came into play at first base in the sixth inning when Sigmon came into pitch and left first base, drew a walk to lead off the seventh. Griffin reached on an error and Karley Harkey singled past the short stop to load the base. Salvo notched her third RBI of the game when she singled through the left side and Coggins scored. Griffin also attempted to go home but was thrown out at home. Sigmon helped her cause, as she was set to toss her second inning of relief in the bottom of the seventh, when she hit a two RBI double scoring Harkey and Salvo.
Buchanan tossed five shutout innings giving up two hits and striking out four, improving to 5-2 on the year. Sigmon threw two innings of relief, giving up just one hit and striking out four, notching her fourth save of the year. Western Carolina had nine hits in the game.
Georgia Southern 7, Elon 3Georgia Southern 5, Elon 4STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern took a pair of games over Elon in the SoCon Home Opener for the Eagles. GS took the opener 7-3 behind 12 strikeouts from Sarah Purvis. The Eagles went to extra innings for the first time this season in game two and came away with a 5-4 win in eight innings to sweep the doubleheader and win the series. The Eagles will go for the sweep on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Kourtny Thomas put the Eagles on top in the first inning when she drove the first pitch over the wall in left center. The three-run job was her 11th home run of the season. The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the second inning. The first scored on a throwing error by the Elon catcher and the second scored off a sacrifice fly by Shelby Morrill. Elon cut into the lead in the third when Carleigh Nester hit a three-run home run down the line in left off a full count with two runners in scoring position. That long-ball cut the Georgia Southern advantage to 5-3 in the third. A double by Kaitlyn Johnson opened the fifth inning; she scored when AJ Hamilton, the next batter up, hit a single down the line in left to make it a 6-3 advantage for the Eagles. An RBI groundout by pinch hitter Dominique Grossman added another run for the Eagles in the fifth. Those runs were all starting pitcher Sarah Purvis would need as the senior went the distance, allowing just three hits to pick up her 10th win of the season. She fanned 12 Phoenix batters including seven looking. Georgia Southern posted a pair of two-run leads, but each time Elon had the answer, tying the score at two and four runs, respectively. The Eagles got a runner aboard with one out thanks to a fielding error by the Elon first baseman. A single by Thomas moved pinch runner Nicole Benton into scoring position with just one out. Five-hole hitter Morgan Robinson delivered a double to the track in right center, ending the game and handing the Eagles a 5-4 win. The Eagles got on the board in the first frame, taking advantage of a leadoff walk and a pair of hits to post a 2-0 lead, but left the bases loaded in the frame. For the game, Georgia Southern would strand 14 runners, including two when the game ended. Elon bounced back with a pair of runs in the second, Emily Roper and Johanna Spencer each drove in runs to tie the game at 2-2. Brianna McLendon opened the second with a leadoff single and worked her way in to score off a hit by Shelby Morrill to put the Eagles back on top 3-2. After an open third frame, an RBI single from Thomas drove Emily Snider in from second after the freshman delivered a leadoff double. That run put the lead back to 4-2. Elon clawed back in the fifth inning, using Carleigh Nester’s two-RBI double to left to score two runs and knot the game at 4-4. Brooke Red was exceptional in the circle, working around six hits for eight innings to pick up her eighth win of the season. She struck out 12 Elon batters to match her career-high which was set last weekend against UNCG. UNCG 3, Samford 2Samford 10, UNCG 5BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team split a pair of games with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on Saturday, March 22, at Samford Field. The Bulldogs picked up its' first SoCon victory of the season after bouncing back to win game two of the double header against the Spartans. UNCG (12-14, 2-3 SoCon) took game one over SU (21-8, 1-3 SoCon) through the use of timely hitting; the Spartans plated three runs on just five hits as compared to the Bulldogs who scattered out seven total hits in the contest. Katelyn Bedwell put UNCG on the scoreboard in the top of the first with an RBI double to left field that scored Allison Geiner from second. The Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the third on a Caroline Wilder RBI single up the middle that scored Abbie Miranda; Samford plated another run in the inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Spartans bounced back in the top of the fourth with a two-run inning to regain the lead 3-2 and held the Bulldogs at bay in the bottom of the seventh frame as Samford's final out of the game came on a play at home where Wilder collided with the Spartan catcher. Samford bounced back in a big way in game two as the team scored 10 runs on nine hits; nine of the 10 runs were scored in the bottom of the fourth.
The Bulldogs trailed the Spartans 2-0 headed into the bottom of the third until Abby Adams belted her 11th home run of the season over the left field wall to close the UNCG lead down to 2-1. Adams' home run solidified her position as the school's single season home run record holder.
The real fireworks however came in the bottom of the fourth for SU as the team plated nine runs on eight hits in the inning to take a 10-2 lead.
Shelby Scott had her number called as a pinch hitter for pitcher Mollie Hanson with two Bulldog runners on base and no outs. Scott took the first pitch she saw and sent it over the left field wall to plate three runs for Samford and take a 4-2 lead.
Megan Dowdy tacked on another Bulldog run with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Rachel Bickert. Adams singled down the left field line to load the bases for Caitlin Bice. Bice with a 2-1 count in her favor blistered a grand slam home run over the wall in right center field which extend the 'Dogs lead out to 9-2.
Caroline Seaybrought in the final run of the inning on an RBI walk to plate Hannah Taylor to make the score 10-2
UNCG staved off a five-inning game and plated three runs in the top of the fifth to bring the final score to 10-5.