Georgia Southern 9, Campbell 0
Georgia Southern 3, Holy Cross 2
KNOXVILLE, TENN.  – Georgia Southern Softball picked up a pair of wins in the opening day of the Tennessee Invitational with victories over Campbell (9-0) and Holy Cross (3-2). With the wins, GS improves to 16-5 on the season and are off to the best start in program history. The Eagles will play Western Kentucky and Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.

Eagle pitching and hitting was dominant in the win over Campbell to open the day. Brooke Red and Allie Miles combined for a one-hitter, holding the Camels scoreless on the day. Red struck out 10 batters and walked three in her six innings of work. She improves to 6-2 with the win. Miles pitched around a leadoff error in the seventh to nail-down the win with a strikeout of her own.

The Eagle bats were angry, pounding eight hits and nine runs. Emily Snider opened the fourth with a home run to center. GS would bat around and Snider would drive in another run with a walk later in the frame.

Four more runs crossed in the seventh inning as the visiting team on the scoreboard added some insurance runs. Kaitlyn Johnson drove in two with her home run as the Eagles built a 9-0 advantage.

Brianna McLendon tallied two RBIs in the game while Kourtny Thomas posted two hits and a run scored.

The hero of game two was Kourtny Thomas with a pair of home runs. The senior drove in all three Eagle runs and staked Georgia Southern to a 2-0 lead in the opening frame.

Holy Cross responded with two runs in the second inning as the Crusaiders chased starting pitcher Marla Thompson from the game after 1.1 innings. She was relieved by Sarah Purvis who added 5.2 innings to her scoreless innings streak to 34.2 innings. That is now the second-longest streak in school history.

Thomas drove the game-winning home run in the fifth inning as the senior went yard for the eighth time this season. She now leads the Eagles in batting average with a .377 mark  to go with 23 RBIs.

Purvis picked up the win to improve to 8-2 on the season and lower her ERA to 0.64 this season.

The Eagles conclude the Tennessee Invitational on Sunday morning with a 9 a.m. game against Western Kentucky, followed by a 2 p.m. game against No. 3 Tennessee.

 

Western Carolina 4, Colgate 2
Western Carolina 1, Bowling Green 0
ORLANDO, Fla. - Western Carolina softball (9-12) swept second day action at the UCF Spring Fling defeating Colgate 4-2 and shutting out Bowling Green 1-0 Saturday.

Western Carolina overcame a quick 2-0 deficit to down Colgate 4-2 in the first game Saturday at the UCF Spring Fling. The Catamounts scored four unanswered runs, after being down 2-0 in the top of the first, for the win.

Freshman hurler Courtney Buchanan quickly entered the game, in the top of the first, after Catamount starter Mallory Broome walked the first batter and hit the second. After forcing a pop-up, for the first out, Buchanan gave up a single and then struck the fourth batter out. A two RBI, two out, single by  Tera Vaughn put the Raiders up 2-0 in the top of the first.

The Catamounts cut the Colgate lead to one, 2-1, scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Senior right fielder Amelia Griffin led off with a single followed by a single by Harkey and a walk by Kara Salvo. Sophomore Taylor Sigmon hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Griffin.

The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth when the Catamounts exploded for three runs. Whitney Haywood led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a Red Raider error that put Brooke Coggins on first. Haywood was erased at third on a fielder's choice that put Griffin on first and moved Coggins to second.

Karley Harkey singled to load the bases and Kara Salvo drew a walk to give Coggins a free pass home. Sigmon notched her second sacrifice fly scoring Griffin and Price's single up the middle plated Coggins for the third run.

Buchanan tossed five innings, after coming in for Broome in the first inning, and threw five shutout innings giving up four hits, two of those in the first inning, and striking out five. Sigmon came into the game in relief in the sixth and tossed two scoreless innings yielding just one hit. Buchanan improved to 5-0 on the season and Sigmon got her second save of the season.

The Catamounts had seven hits in the game with Sigmon going 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Junior Catamount pitcher Jordan Garrett tossed a two-hit shutout, in a complete game, striking out a seson-high 12 in Western Carolina's narrow 1-0 victory over Bowling Green.

The Catamounts scored their only run in the bottom of the first inning. Amelia Griffin led off the first with a single, a hit that landed just in front of the catcher, and beat out the throw. Harkey followed with a single, and with one out, Griffin scored on an RBI single by Sigmon.

After Western Carolina's lone run it became a pitching duel with Garrett coming out on top. Garrett improves to 2-7 on the season.

Western Carolina had six hits in the game.

 

Furman 3, Jacksonville State 0
Coastal Carolina 5, Furman 1
Conway, S.C. – Jamie McGuire and Sara Borders belted home runs and Taylor West tossed a complete-game shutout in her collegiate debut to lead Jacksonville State to a 3-0 victory over Furman in the Paladins’ opening game at the Chanticleer Challenge on Saturday afternoon in Conway, S.C.

McGuire put the Gamecocks in front in the top of the fourth by following Cadi Oliver’s one-out single with a two-run blast to right-center field.  Border added an insurance run for JSU in the sixth inning with a leadoff homer over the right-center field wall to push the margin to 3-0.

West (1-0) allowed just seven hits and fanned five Paladins without issuing a walk to pick up the win in the circle.  She worked out of a jam in the seventh after Ambree Muller singled and Hannah Pace was hit by a pitch with one out by getting Natalie Clemmons to bounce to third.  West struck out Legg with runners at second and third to complete the shutout and snap the Paladins’ five-game winning streak.

Lauren Collier suffered the loss for the Paladins to drop to 5-4.  The senior allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings in the circle.  She fanned nine batters and walked three.

Muller and Legg each collected a pair of hits for the Paladins while Kalie Hicks notched a double.

Pitcher Kiana Quolas doubled twice to drive in three runs and limited Furman to just one run on six hits in a complete-game performance in the circle as Coastal Carolina topped the Paladins, 5-1, on Saturday at the Chanticleer Challenge.

Quolas fanned eight Paladins in seven innings or work and scattered six hits to up her record to 7-3 in the circle.

After Kory Hayden staked the Chanticleers to a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, her ninth of the year, Quolas doubled to drive in a run in the third inning and plated two runs with a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth.  Bri Chiusano, Quolas and Hayden combined to go 6-for-9 with five RBI at the top of the CCU order.

Starter Shelby Parker (3-4) took the loss for Furman.  The Cherokee, N.C., product allowed five runs on six hits in four innings of work.  She walked three batters and struck out three.

Ambree Muller provided the Paladins’ only run of the day with a solo homer to right-center in the top of the fourth.  Muller went 2-for-3 at the plate while Nikki Legg, playing in front of her hometown crowd, collected two hits in four at bats.

Furman dropped to 9-9 on the season and the Chanticleers improved to 12-4.

 

Central Michigan 5, Chattanooga 1
Chattanooga 10, Fordham 3
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Chattanooga Mocs repeated with a Saturday split on the second day of the USF Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater, Fla., with a win over Fordham and a loss to Central Michigan.  The Chippewas got the best of the Mocs 5-1 in the first game of the day, but Chattanooga bounced back and claimed a 10-3 victory over the Rams in the second game.

Junior Taylor Deason was handed the start for the Mocs against Central Michigan, but four unearned runs charged to the right-hander cost Deason her seventh win of the season, dropping her to 6-5. 

Chattanooga got off on the right foot with a run in the top of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead over CMU.  Freshman Jesslyn Stockard singled to right and senior Tyler Templet reached safely on a fielder’s choice.  Safe at second on the play, Stockard later scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of senior Kaiti Dutton.  On the batted ball, a throwing error allowed Stockard to advance from second to home.

Central Michigan then jumped on the in the third with four runs on just two hits and two Chattanooga errors.  With one out and one on, an error allowed a second base-runner aboard and a walk loaded the bases.  A second Chattanooga error, which would have ended the inning, then allowed for two Chippewa runs to score.  Just one batter later, a two-RBI single up the middle from Central Michigan’s Corey DeLamiellur gave the home team its third and fourth runs of the game.

Leading 4-1, the Chippewas tacked on their final run of the game in the fifth inning as left fielder Kristen Kuhlman laced a two-out RBI single to center to drive in the game’s last run.

Chattanooga’s second game gave the Mocs some redemption after the day’s first loss, and also gave UTC a chance to win back the first game of the season.  The Rams downed the Mocs in five inning in Orlando, Fla., to begin the season, but it would be Chattanooga taking the final matchup of the season 10-3 in the Sunshine State.

The Mocs offense rallied with 16 hits behind Chattanooga starting pitcher Katie Henderson and Deason entered the game in relief to record her second save of the year.

Henderson tossed four innings and left with a slim 4-3 in the fifth inning.  The sophomore had allowed only allowed three hits, struck out five batters and all three of the Rams’ runs scored in the first inning were unearned.

With a runner on at second, Deason entered in relief of Henderson in the fifth inning.  With no outs, the Clarksville, Tenn., native was able to coax a strikeout, groundout and flyout to preserve the lead and the winning record for Henderson.

The offense then came to life in the sixth and seventh innings with two runs and four runs, respectively, on eight hits.  Junior Sarah Beth Roberts delivered with a two-RBI double in the sixth inning, and sophomore Alyssa Taylor followed up in the seventh with an RBI single to left to put the Mocs up 7-3.  A two-RBI double off the bat of Criket Blanco and another run-scoring single from Roberts put the final runs on the board.

Jacksonville State 5, Appalachian State 0
Appalachian State 4, Bryant 1
CONWAY, S.C. – After the first day of the Chanticleer Challenge was rained out the Mountaineers were finally able to take the field for the first game of the revised tournament schedule on Saturday morning. The Apps challenged Jacksonville State in game one and fell by a 5-0 final. Later in the afternoon, App State took on Bryant in the second game and came away victorious, 4-1.

The Mountaineers (6-12) would surrender two runs in the top half of the first inning. The Gamecocks (12-5) would get strike first with a two-run homer off the bat of Kalee Tabor that followed an infield single from Sara Borders to take an early 2-0 lead. Sydney Laws started for App State and worked a flawless 1-2-3 inning in the second. With runners on second and third and no one out, the Mountaineers would threaten to score but Tiffany Harbin would keep the Apps off the board.

JSU would tally three-straight single to begin the fourth inning with just one out. With the bases loaded, Laws would strike out Stephanie Lewis and Ella Denes swinging and escape the inning uncsathed. Ashley Seering would connect on the first base hit of the game for the Mountaineers and advance Lindsay Loudermilk to second base on the play, but the Apps would leave them stranded.

Cadi Oliver would hit a sac-fly in the fifth inning and add to the Gamecock lead and make it 3-0. Following a lead off base hit in the sixth, Cara Parker would make a great double play catching a line drive off the bat of Lewis and doubling up Hayden Crawford at first to escape danger. In the seventh after a Taylor Sloan single to center, Borders sent a pitch well over the wall in center to extend the Gamcock lead to 5-0 and would win by the same score.

Laws (2-3) pitched seven innings for the Mountaineers, allowing 13 hits and four earned runs to go along with four strikeouts.

The Mountaineers (7-12) got off to a fast start in game two against the Bulldogs with a Sarah Warnock lead off base hit followed by an error during Kristen Terry’s at bat with both runners would advancing an extra base on the play. Parker would come to the plate and knock an infield single to load the bases. Seering would eventually line into a double play with Warnock being doubled up on third and the Apps would not score.

In the second, Shivaun Landeros would stirkeout two Bulldogs and leave runners stranded on first and second to end the threat. Warnock would do more of the same in the third and lead off the inning with a double to left center field. Parker would come to the plate and single up the middle to drive in Warnock for the first run of the game and Parker’s third RBI of the season and the Apps would take a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs would get on the board in the fourth when Taylor Bell drove in Aubrey Mable to tie the game at 1-1. For the third time in the game, Warnock would lead off the inning with a base hit. Following Warnock, Terry would bunt for a single to give the Apps first and second with none out. Parker would single to center, but Warnock would be thrown out trying to score. Seering would proceed to single home both Terry and Parker and extend App’s lead to 3-1. Whitney Johnson would draw a base on balls and Ellie Manriquez would be the fourth Mountaineer to cross the plate and the Apps would lead 4-1.

In the sixth, Terry would single for the second time and then would steal her third base of the season. Terry would later advance to third on a wild pitch, but the Mountaineers were unable to push her across. Landeros would mow down the Bulldogs in the sixth and cap the inning with her seventh strikeout of the game. Dani Heichen would enter the game as a pinch runner after Manriquez singled to right field. Heichen would advance to second on an illegal pitch and would steal third with Alicia Van Winkle stealing second after drawing a walk. The steal for Heichen was her sixth and it was Van Winkle’s first of her career. The Apps would be unable to push the runs across in the seventh.

 

Samford 4, Gardner Webb 1
Gardner Webb 12, Samford 11
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Samford University softball team split a pair of games with Gardner-Webb University on Saturday, March 8, at Varsity Field. Mollie Hanson highlighted game one as she tossed six scoreless innings without allowing a hit or a walk and dished out seven strikeouts.

In what is described as a pitchers' duel, the Bulldogs (18-5) and the Runnin' Bulldogs (7-15) were deadlocked at 0-0 until the top of the fourth inning when junior Abby Adams brought home sophomore Megan Dowdy in an RBI putout to second base.

Samford struck again in the top of the fifth inning on a Dowdy RBI double to left field that scored Caroline Wilder.

Adams notched her second RBI of the contest with a leadoff solo home run to center field in the top of the sixth to bring the score to 3-0 in favor of the Bulldogs; the home run gave Adams nine on the season.

SU capped off the scoring affair in the seventh when Dowdy reached first on a fielding error by the shortstop which allowed Wilder to score from third.

Samford tallied four runs on five hits with Wilder going 2 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored. Dowdy Adams and Caroline Seay each tallied a hit for the Bulldogs.
In game two the Bulldogs out hit the Runnin' Bulldogs 13-9 but GWU plated 12 runs to SU's 11 to take the split on Saturday.

Through three innings Samford and Gardner-Webb went run for run until the Runnin' Bulldogs took a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

SU rallied for six runs in the top of the sixth inning and secured a 10-6 lead but GWU bounced back to plate two of their own and close the gap down to 10-8 going into the seventh.

Freshman Abbie Miranda drew a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh and advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches before being brought home on a Wilder sacrifice fly to right field to take an 11-8 lead.

Gardner-Webb worked its magic to plate three runs in the bottom of the frame to send the game into extra innings where they eventually won after the Runnin' Bulldogs scored on a fielder's choice sac bunt.