Georgia Southern 7, Western Carolina 0
Georgia Southern 9, Western Carolina 2
STATESBORO, GA.  – Georgia Southern Softball dismantled Western Carolina on Saturday in a doubleheader sweep at Eagle Field. The home side won the opener 7-0 in a one-hit master class by Sarah Purvis in which she took a no-hitter through 6.2 innings. In game two, Brooke Red held the Catamounts to two hits as the Eagles posted a 9-2 win to improve to 22-11 on the year and 6-1 in league play.

Sarah Purvis stymied the Catamounts, tossing a one-hitter to pick up her 12th win of the season. She carried the no-hitter through 6.2 innings and saw per potential sixth no-hitter scuttled with a single through the left side. Ultimately, Purvis fanned 12 batters for her 18th career 10+ strikeout game.

The Eagle offense was held scoreless for the first four innings despite stranding a runner on base in every frame. GS earned 11 walks in the game, as the team posted their highest walk total since March 7th, 2003 against Morris Brown.

Georgia Southern got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a four-spot. The Eagles played small-ball early in the inning and got the first run of the game when Morgan Robinson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. A walk to Kaitlyn Johnson played one more run and AJ Hamilton drove in two more on a single up the middle to make it a 4-0 lead for the Eagles.

The Eagles cashed in three more runs in the sixth off a Dominique Grossman double to left. A fielding error by the second baseman, one of three errors in the frame, allowed the third run to score and made it a 7-0 advantage.

Purvis took her no-hitter into the seventh inning after her perfect game bid was sullied an inning earlier with a walk. She allowed a walk and hit a batter, but recorded two outs to draw close to her sixth career no-hitter. Courtney Price delivered a soft liner through the left side of the infield for the Catamount’s first hit of the game. The visitors, however, would leave the bases loaded as the Eagles took the opener 7-0.

The Georgia Southern offense didn’t waste any time in game two, sprinting out to a 3-0 lead in the opening frame. A fielding error by Western Carolina, followed by a Shelby Morrill triple and an RBI single by Dominique Grossman drove in the runs in the first stanza.

Western Carolina answered back, taking advantage of two Georgia Southern errors in the second inning to cut the lead to 3-1. A squeeze play played the run with the bases loaded and no outs. The Eagle defense closed up and made the next three outs on infield ground balls to get out of the jam.

The offense added two more runs in the fifth inning off a Morgan Robinson double.

Western Carolina got a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for their second run of the game after a Courtney Price double opened the inning.

GS responded by tacking on four more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth off four hits and a Western Carolina error.

Georgia Sothern had four hitters with two or more hits in the second game and tallied nine runs off 11 hits.

Brooke Red tossed a two-hitter in game two, allowing two runs, one earned, for her ninth win of the season. She took five strikeouts and stranded seven Western Carolina runners on base.

 
Furman 9, Elon 0
Greenville, S.C. – Furman pounded out 13 hits, including three home runs, en route to a 9-0 victory over the Elon Phoenix in the opening game of a three-game Southern Conference series on Saturday at Hunt Softball Park.  Game two was postponed due to rain and wet field conditions and will be played as part of a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday.

Senior right-hander Lauren Collier tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout in the circle and helped her own cause by putting the Paladins on the board with a solo home run to center field in the top of the second inning.  Sieara Bishop singled to start the third inning and scored when Taylor Jenkins’ sharply hit single to left field skipped past Emily Cameron and rolled to the wall.  Jenkins trotted home on Natalie Clemmons single to up the lead to 3-0.

Furman (15-16, 3-3 SoCon) put the contest out of reach by scoring three runs apiece in the fourth and fifth innings.  Right fielder Andrea Abbatiello opened the fourth with a single to left field and scored when Elise Smith followed with a triple into the right field corner.  After consecutive foul outs to first base, Ambree Muller hammered a two-out, two-run homer to right to increase the Furman advantage to 6-0.

In the top of the fifth, Clemmons opened the frame with her third blast of the season and Collier followed with a single.  Abbatiello singled to put two on with one out and Nikki Legg followed a ground out with a two-out, two-run single through the middle for the final 9-0 margin.

Bishop, Clemmons, Collier and Abbatiello each registered a pair of hits for the Paladins while Clemmons, Muller and Legg each batted in two runs apiece.

Chelsea White (7-6) took the loss for the Phoenix (16-15-1, 1-6), allowing nine runs on 13 hits in five innings of work.  She walked two batters and struck out one.

Collier issued just two walks and fanned two batters while upping her record to 9-8.

 

Samford 1, Appalachian State 0
Samford 3, Appalachian State 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team took two wins in dramatic fashion to clinch the series on the first day over Appalachian State University on March 29, at Samford Field. SU entered the series with a 5-13 overall record against ASU.

Junior Mollie Hanson (13-6) picked up the two victories in the circle for the Bulldogs (26-9, 4-3 SoCon) to clinch the series against the Mountaineers (12-18, 3-4 SoCon). Hanson tossed a complete-game two-hit shutout in game one and came in the top of the eighth in relief to shut down the Apps.

Samford and Appalachian State dueled it out in the circle in game one of the twin bill as Hanson and Shivaun Landeros (7-8) both shut down batters on both squads. Hanson gave up only two hits, no walks and recorded six strikeouts as compared to Landeros' three hits, one walk and four strikeouts.

The Bulldogs managed to reach base multiple times against Landeros' and left 10 runners stranded before the team scratched across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Abby Adams knocked in the winning run with a ground ball that found its way past Cara Parker's glove and through her legs at shortstop to score Abbie Miranda from second base.

Adams, Miranda and Hannah Taylor each recorded a hit in the contest with Taylor.

Samford jumped out in front in the bottom of the first with Adams 12^th home run of the season to take a 1-0 lead over Appalachian State.

Grey Adams who got the nod in the circle for game two, pitched two scoreless innings before she gave up a two-run home run to Cara Parker in the top of the third.  

Adams was relieved by Jessica Stone, who just came off of a complete-game no-hit shutout against Southern University. Stone pitched four and two thirds innings worth of shutout ball to keep the Apps from generating anymore offense and keep the Bulldogs within striking distance for the eventual comeback.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth Carolina Seay provided a clutch hit up the middle to score Abby Adams and tie the game at 2-2.

Callie Brister, who had not hit a home run since March 1, against Marshall University, stepped up to the plate for Samford and worked a 3-1 count against Mountaineer pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf (2-5). Brister sent the next pitch from Schoelkopf over the wall in left center field to seal the 3-2 victory for Samford.

Adams led the way at the plate in game two going 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one rbi while Megan Dowdy, Seay and Brister each recorded one hit apiece in the contest.

 

Chattanooga 8, UNCG 1 (Suspended after six innings)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Saturday’s first game of its three-game series with UNCG in Greensboro, N.C., is halted after six innings of play with Chattanooga leading the Spartans 8-1.  Chattanooga and UNCG will resume at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by its second and third games afterwards.

The Mocs were first to strike in the second inning for two runs.  Stephanie Rieck singled and Stockard walked to put two runners on.  A single from Dutton loaded the bases and junior Sarah Beth Roberts chopped an infield single to third to plate one.  The second run of the inning scored as Alyssa Taylor reached on a fielder’s choice.

UNCG got its first hit and run of the game in the fourth inning off starting pitcher Katie Henderson.  Tossing a no-hitter until the fourth, a double from Lindsay Thomas brought around one runner to score, but Henderson was able to work out of the inning with no further damage done to register for the win. 

Junior Taylor Deason was brought on in the fifth inning with one out with the bases loaded.  UNCG third baseman Danielle Vega grounded back to Deason to begin an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play to get the Mocs out of trouble. 

Leading with a short 3-1 advantage, Chattanooga poured on five runs in the sixth on five hits and two errors.  With two runners on and two outs, Stockard lifted a liner out of the yard to right-center to put UTC up 6-1.  With Sam Taylor singling in the following at-bat, Dutton answered with a two-run shot to nearly the same spot.  The high-arching homer bounced off the screen protecting the scoreboard and extended the UTC lead to 8-1.

The tarp was pulled before the start of the seventh inning with continuing rains getting heavier.  When play resumes, Henderson is in line for the win and Deason is in line for the save.