Appalachian State 5, NC Central 1
DURHAM, N.C. – Appalachian State University softball traveled to North Carolina Central on Wednesday for a mid-week non-conference game and would win, 5-1.

The Mountaineers (12-16) would strike first to open the contest. Kristen Terry would tally the Apps’ first hit of the game in the first. After stealing second base, Terry would be able to jog home after Cara Parker connected on her second home run of the season to deep center field to give App State an early 2-0 lead.

In the second, Caroline Reid would single to shortstop and advance to second base on the play. Reid would proceed to steal third base and Pepper Butler would slice a single into right field and drive in Reid to extend the Appalachian lead to 3-0. The RBI for Butler was her first of the season.

The Lady Eagles (4-20) would score their lone run of the game in the third inning when London Germ came around to score from second base on an error and the run would be unearned.

Both teams would put up zeros in the next three innings. The Apps would tack on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to seal the road victory. After a Reid single, Butler would steal second after reaching via an error. Parker would walk and Ashley Best would single through the right side and drive in both Reid and Butler to extend the App lead to 5-1.

Alissa Schoelkopf would start the game and pitch 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and one run that was unearned while also striking out three. Sydney Laws would come in to pitch the remainder of the contest. In 4.1 innings, Laws would allow just three hits and strikeout three.

 

Mississippi State 9, Samford 1
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Samford University softball team fell to Southeastern Conference opponent Mississippi State University 9-1 on Wednesday, March 26.

The Bulldogs (24-9) struck first in the top of the third and took a 1-0 lead over MSU. Caitlin Bice plated Caroline Seay for Samford's lone run of the contest.

Seay reached base earlier in the inning on an error by the third baseman who bobbled the ball as Seay streaked down the first base line. Abbie Miranda moved Seay into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher then moved around to third on a single to center field by Megan Dowdy.

Mississippi State (25-10) bounced back in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead off of a couple of Samford defensive miscues.

The Bulldogs from Starkville, Miss., extended its lead out to 7-1 over the Bulldogs from Birmingham with the help of a grand slam from Heidi Shape.

MSU closed out the contest in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run walk off base hit to bring the score to 9-1.

Abby Adams and Hannah Taylor each drew a walk in the contest while pitcher Mollie Hanson went four complete innings giving up six hits and only one earned run.

Georgia 4, Georgia Southern 1
ATHENS, GA.  – Georgia Southern Softball dropped a 4-1 result to Georgia in a midweek non-conference contest on Wednesday night. A Kourtny Thomas home run was one of eight hits for the Eagles who finished level with the Bulldogs in the hits column. The Eagles are back at home this weekend for a three-game series against Western Carolina.

Georgia (29-3) got a pair of runs in the second inning via the long ball as Kaylee Puailoa and Bethany Beggs combined for back-to-back home runs in the inning. Those runs handed the home side a 2-0 lead through two innings of play.

The Eagles (21-11) left two runners in scoring position in the third and fifth innings as the Eagles were able to get the runner on, but not drive them in to score.

The Bulldogs got two runs in the fifth inning off a pair of doubles in the frame to extend the lead to 4-0.

Georgia Southern got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning when Kourtny Thomas pounded her 12th home run of the season to the gap in left to make it a 4-1 game. Morgan Robinson got her second hit of the game later in the inning and was stranded at third base at the end of the inning as the Eagle threat was quelled.

The Eagles got a walk to start the seventh, but a pitching change followed by three-straight outs ended the game and gave Georgia the victory.

Sarah Purvis went five innings and allowed all four runs off eight hits to fall to 11-5 on the season. Brooke Red came in and worked a perfect sixth inning in relief.

 

NC State 13, Elon 5
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Elon University softball team could not overcome an eight-run bottom of the first by NC State and fell to the Wolfpack, 13-5, on Wednesday, March 26, at Dail Softball Stadium.

Elon (16-13-1) got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the first as the Wolfpack (20-10) plated the first runs of the game. Renada Davis led off the inning with a solo home run down the left field line to put NC State on the scoreboard. More Elon miscues led to five more runs being scored by the Wolfpack in the inning before Davis added her second homer of the inning on a two-run shot to left field to give NC State a commanding 8-0 lead after the opening frame.

NC State added three more runs in the bottom of the second due to wild pitches and other Elon mishaps. Molly Hutchins was walked to lead off the inning and was replaced by pinch runner Hannah Yeager. Yeager advanced to third on a Hanna Sommer single to the left center and scored on a wild pitch with one out. Another wild pitch led to the Wolfpack’s second run of the inning followed by Leah Jones hitting a solo home run to left field to put NC State up 11-0 after two.

Elon finally broke through on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Freshman Alaina Hall became the second Phoenix runner to reach base in the game on a walk. She was joined on the bases by Emily Cameron and Carleigh Nester, who also received free passes to load the bases. Fellow freshman Emily Roper recorded the first hit of the game for Elon as she lined a double to left center, driving in Hall and Cameron to plate the Phoenix’s first scores of the game. The Phoenix however could not add any more runs in the inning as NC State retired the next three batters to get out of the inning.

The Wolfpack added another run in the bottom of the fourth behind a Morgan Medford one-out solo home run to center. NC State threatened again in the inning and ended up loading the bases before converting a 5-2-3 double play to move to the top of the fifth.

Back-to-back home runs in the top of the fifth helped the Phoenix trim its deficit. Hall blasted her second home run of the year, a two-run shot to right field that scored Carey Million, who had reached earlier on a walk. Cameron followed with solo hit over the fence to left field, cutting the Phoenix’s deficit to seven, 12-5, after the top of the fifth.

NC State would add the final run of the game in the bottom half of the fifth to earn the 13-5 win.

The loss went to Elon starter Caitlin O’Shea (4-7), who was one of three pitchers that was used for the Phoenix. Alli Burdette was the third pitcher that entered the game for Elon and went 2.1 innings with a strikeout.

Roper had two of the Phoenix’s four hits on the day along with two RBI. Hall went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Cameron had the lone other hit for Elon.