Samford 6, Valparaiso 5
Samford 10, Alabama State 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team tallied 28 hits en route to victories over Valparaiso University (6-5) and Alabama State University (10-4) on Friday, Feb. 20, at Samford Field.
In the midst of a chilly afternoon of softball the Bulldogs offense mustered 16 runs and another walk-off victory to improve to 10-2 on the season.
Samford opened up the day against Valparaiso and continued to show why they never give up. The Bulldogs fell behind early 1-0 after the team gave up one run in the top of the first to the Crusaders and eventually 2-0 after VU tacked on another run in the third.
SU bounced back in the bottom of the third after the team plated its first run of the afternoon to close the VU lead down to 2-1 on a Caitlin Bice RBI double to right center field with two outs that scored Caroline Wilder.
The Bulldogs took the lead 3-2 in the fourth on sophomore Abbie Miranda's two-run homerun over the wall in left field.
Valparaiso evened the game at 3-3 after the Crusaders smashed an RBI double to left field. Sophomore Jessica Stone pitched five solid innings before being replaced by fellow sophomore Grey Adams (4-0).
Adams gave up a two-run home run in the sixth to give VU the 5-3 edge over SU and set the stage for another thrilling comeback by the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs closed the lead down to 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth when junior Megan Dowdy sent scorcher right back up the center of the Crusader defense for an RBI single.
Abby Adams, Callie Brister and Hannah Taylor all doubled with one out to win the game in walk-off fashion and extend Samford's win streak to five games.
Samford's path to victory against Alabama State lacked the last-minute heroics of a walk-off victory but it was just as impressive as SU 16 hits to go along with 10 runs scored.
The Bulldogs only trailed once in the contest after giving up the initial run of the game in the first inning and pulled away from the Hornets after the team posted three runs in the in the third to take a 5-2 lead.
Rebecca Leonard pitched a complete-game with three strikeouts to earn her first victory of the year.
Dowdy and freshman Shelby Maze paced the offense with six hits each while Dowdy stood out more with five RBI, one run scored and a walk.
Sophomore Abby Sweeney tallied a 3 for 5 performance at the plate with a team high four runs scored to go along with three RBI.
The Bulldogs wrap up the Samford Tournament with a pair of games on Saturday, Feb. 21, against Valparaiso at 11:15 a.m. and Houston Baptist at 1:30 p.m.
Chattanooga 6, Ball State 2
Chattanooga 3, South Alabama 1
MOBILE, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Softball team swept Ball State and No. 22 in back-to-back victories on Friday night.
The Mocs (8-4) dominated the Cardinals, 6-2 before outplaying the nationally ranked Jaguars, 3-1. UTC’s win over South Alabama ended the Jaguars seven-winning streak and is Chattanooga’s first win against a nationally ranked opponent since 2011.
The Mocs struggled to finish offensively in the first three innings, but defensive teamwork and three strike outs from Taylor Deason kept the Cardinals from finding an offensive rhythm of their own.
Ball State would take a 1-0 lead at the bottom of the second, as Cardinal Stuedemann homered to left center.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth. Still pushing to connect at the bat, Sarah Beth Roberts would get the momentum going as she doubled to left center. Nicole Osterman followed with a ground out to second base allowing Roberts to advance to third. Criket Blanco completed Roberts run as she brought in her teammate off a ground out to the short stop, evening the score, 1-1.
Ball State recaptured the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single to right field from Dabkowski. Sophomore left fielder Taylor Cooley scored on the play after drawing a one-out walk and then stealing second base.
Still in the game, the Mocs rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh to pull ahead 6-2. J.J. Hamill led off the inning with a single to second base, and advanced to second off a wild pitch. Sam Taylor ran Hamill in as she doubled to left center.
Keeping the energy in motion, Alyssa Taylor brought in Taylor (Sam) as she singled up the middle. Rattling Ball State’s defense Taylor (Alyssa) advanced to second off a bad throw.
A frustrated Ball State would switch out pitcher Stienback for Wilmes but it wouldn’t stop the Mocs as Osterman, advancing off a throwing error by the Cardinals second baseman, helped Taylor (Alyssa) score, putting the Mocs up 4-2.
Blanco would cap off UTC’s run with a homered powered out to left field. Also bringing home Osterman, Blanco’s home run extended Chattanooga’s lead, 6-2.
Shutting the Ball State down offensively in the bottom of the seventh, the Mocs claimed their second straight victory, 6-2 over the cardinals.
Keeping its drive going, UTC would snap No. 22 University of South Alabama softball's seven-game winning streak in their second matchup of the South Alabama Invitational on Friday night.
The Jaguars opened with a 1-0 lead, but the Mocs responded with another homer from Blanco as her two-run shot plated Osterman to set the score 2-1.
At the top of the sixth Osterman slammed UTC’s second home run of the game and third of the night to center field extending the Mocs lead, 3-1.
Keeping an off-speed pitch Cori Jennings (2-1) struck out five and allowed only seven hits, while walking four, keeping the Jaguars at only one scored run.
UTC looks to extend Friday’s result with a pair of contests on Saturday, the first versus Jacksonville at 12:15 ET and the second against Sam Houston at 4:45 p.m.
Illinois State 1, Mercer 0
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer University baseball team used strong pitching performances from Ryan Askew and Dimitri Kourtis and timely hitting to win its series opener with Bethune-Cookman, 3-2, on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Askew, who opened the game with three perfect innings on the mound, surrendered just two unearned runs in 6.2 innings of work. The sophomore right-hander limited Bethune-Cookman (0-5) to two hits while striking out six on his way to his second victory in as many starts.
Mercer (2-4) took advantage of the strong pitching performance, providing just enough offense to snap a four-game slide.
The Bears broke open a scoreless tie in the fifth on Charlie Madden's RBI single, before erasing a 2-1 deficit with a pair of clutch runs in the top of the seventh.
Trey Truitt kicked off the inning with a double in the gap, before moving to third on Kyle Lewis' single left field. Truitt would later score on Madden's groundout to tie the game, while Lewis made it home for what turned out to be the game-winning run off a wild pitch from Bethune-Cookman pitcher Clint Clymer.
Kourtis, who pitched four scoreless innings against Virginia Tech, picked up where he left off last weekend. The senior hurler worked out a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, before tossing two more scoreless innings for his first save of the season. The Alpharetta, Ga. native is now three saves shy of tying Andrew Urena's career saves mark with the 17th save of his career.
Lewis paced the Bears' offense with four of the team's 10 hits on the night, recording his fourth multi-hit performance of the year. Danny Edgeworth added a season-best two hits, while Truitt finished with a team-best two runs scored.
Mercer will be back in action tomorrow, as it continues the three-game series with Bethune-Cookman. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Fordham 3, Furman 2 (8 inn.)
Fordam 8, Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Fordham (8-4) rallied to down Furman, 3-2, in extra innings in game one and completed the sweep of the Paladins with an 8-1 decision in game two on the opening day of the Paladin Softball Classic Friday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
Furman (3-2) held a 1-0 lead with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the seventh inning in game one when Paige Ortiz doubled to right-center to ignite Fordham’s rally. Cora Ianiro followed with a four-pitch walk to chase Paladin starter Alex Sappington and Ianiro and pinch runner Cailin Winokur each moved up a base on reliever Lindsey Bert’s wild pitch. Sydney Canessa put the Rams in front with a two-run single to center field three pitches later.
In the bottom of the seventh, Brittany Houston drew a one-out walk and Ambree Muller kept the Paladins alive with a two-out single to center field. After Natalie Clemmons walked to load the bases, Fordham’s Rachel Gillen worked the count to 0-2 against Furman’s Elise Smith, but plunked the designated player with the next pitch to force in Houston with the tying run. Gillen got Bishop to pop out to send the game to extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker in effect in the eighth inning, Brianna Turgeon hammered a one-out, RBI double off of the top of the left field wall to put Fordham back in front, 3-2. Bert retired Michele Daubman and struck out Gillen to strand runners at second and third.
Hannah Reynolds drew a leadoff walk to put Paladins at first and second in the bottom of the eighth, but Gillen retired three straight hitters to give Fordham the 3-2 win. Gillen (4-1) fanned 15 batters while allowing just two runs on five hits in eight innings of work.
Bert, who allowed an unearned run on two hits in one and 1/3 innings, suffered the loss for Furman. Sappington got a no decision after giving up two runs on five hits in six and 2/3 innings. She walked three batters and struck out seven.
Muller, Bishop and Houston each recorded a double for the Paladins in game one, while Daubman went 2-for-4 to pace the Rams.
In the nightcap, Fordham exploded for four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth inning and added three more in the sixth frame to down Furman, 8-1.
Lauren Quense opened the fifth with a solo homer to left field off of Bert before Ianiro singled, Canessa doubled and Amy Van Hoven batted in two runs with a triple to right field. In the sixth, Fordham used three hits and a pair of free passes to plate three more runs.
The Rams finished with 11 hits, including a 2-for-4, three-RBI performance by Van Hoven. Canessa, Lindsay Mayer, Quense and Ianiro each collected two hits.
Daubman (2-2) limited Furman to a run on five hits in five innings to earn the win, while Bert (1-2) surrendered five runs on seven hits in four and 1/3 innings to absorb the defeat.
Taylor Collins went 3-for-3 with a RBI for the Paladins and Taylor Jenkins added a pair of base hits in game two.
The Paladins Classic continues on Saturday when Fordham faces Gardner-Webb at 12 p.m. followed by Furman versus Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m.