Chattanooga 5, UNCG 4
Chattanooga 3, UNCG 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team delighted fans at Frost Stadium with a couple of wins Saturday afternoon over Southern Conference foe UNCG. Chattanooga was 5-4 winners in the first game, and freshman Cori Jennings becomes the fifth left handed pitcher to stump the Spartans with a UTC 3-1 victory against UNCG.
The Mocs now stand at 18-8, 2-0 in SoCon action and UNCG falls to 12-11, 0-2 in conference play.
After scoreless two innings, UNCG jumped on the board first with two runs off three hits in the top the third inning. Spartan Nicole Thomas lined a RBI single down the right field line for UNCG’s first run. Pinch runner Rebecca Kale scored the second run of the frame off a passed ball.
Two hits and two runs extended UNCG’s lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning. Lindsey Thomas lined a RBI sacrifice fly to right field while Danielle Vega roped a two out RBI double.
Still in the game, the Mocs responded with two runs in the fifth inning off two hits. The first run came courtesy of Marina Wilkerson as the senior blasted her first triple of the season to right center, driving in Alyssa Taylor from first. Wilkerson was later ran in by Sam Taylor who followed up with a RBI ground out to third base.
With the score, 4-2 UNCG, both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning.
The Spartans fell in order in the top of the seventh leaving Chattanooga to rally back with three runs to earn a 5-4 walk-off victory.
Jesslyn Stockard led off the final frame for the Mocs with a single to right field. Pinch running for Stockard was Courtney Ervin, who would make her way to home plate as pinch hitter Jenny Garcia lined a RBI triple, setting the score 4-3. Sam Taylor eased a single to left field running in Garcia to tie up the game at four. Sarah Beth Roberts secured the lead and the game for the Mocs as her sacrifice bunt ended the game with a walk-off RBI single.
Chattanooga’s good fortune carried over into the second game on the back of Cori Jennings. The freshman hurled seven innings and allowed only one earned run to secure her eighth win of the season.
UNCG would be the first to score as Nicole Thomas hit a RBI single in the third inning. However, the Mocs snatch the lead off three hits in the third inning.
The Mocs lead off the frame with back-to-back singles as Sam Taylor reached off a hit to right field and J.J. Hamill on a bunt. Sarah Beth Roberts lined a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game at 1-1.
With Hamill left on third and two outs, Stockard laced a RBI to centerfield giving the Mocs a 2-1 advantage.
Chattanooga tacked on an insurance run in the fourth inning with a homer from Anyssa Robles to put the score, 3-1. The junior’s out-of-the-park-hit is her second home run of the season.
UTC’s defense would keep the Spartans off of home plate for the last three innings and seal the win for Chattanooga.
The Mocs wrap up their series with the Spartans Sunday at 2 p.m. at Frost Stadium
Samford 1, Furman 0
Samford 4, Furman 2
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - It was another eventful day for the Samford University track and field squads as each team had individuals turn in impressive marks on the final day of the John Mitchell Alabama Relays held at the Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium on Saturday, March 21.
Senior pole vault specialist Claire Goodson turned in a 3.85m fifth place finish in the women's pole vault during the final day's action; it's the second competition of the season for Goodson since having to miss the indoor season due to exhausted eligibility. Rebecca Preisler from Lewis turned in the top performance in the competition with a 4.05m mark.
Freshman Keyth Fightmaster has been on a steady climb in the men's high jump as he took third place with a 2.15m (7-0 ) jump; that jump tied the school-record setting jump he made just last weekend during the Battle of I-65 at the Samford Track and Soccer Complex.
Sarah Sanford kept the momentum going for the Bulldogs as she turned in a third place finish in the women's 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.04; the time was just shy of her 13.95 time she posted last weekend in her first collegiate outdoor meet. Qiona Payton placed 14th overall with a time of 14.66.
In the men's discus it was senior Sidney Jordan who threw for school-record 50.35m (165-2) on his way to an overall 10th place finish. Jordan broke his own record that he set previously last season on April 27, with a mark of 48.32m.
The Bulldogs tallied a pair of top-ten finishes in the women's 800 meter run as senior Marie DeMedicis placed second with a time of 2:09.32 and fellow teammate Anna Laura Irvine placed sixth overall with a time of 2:12.33. It was the first time of the outdoor season that either of the two ran in the event.
Junior Adam Jones ran in the men's 800 meter run for the first time of the 2015 outdoor season and came away with an eighth place finish time of 1:52.51. Jones was just two seconds shy of eclipsing his personal best he set back on April 11, 2014.
The group of Sarah Sanford, Kimberly Ruch, Abigail Cutcliffe, Marie Demedicis placed ninth overall with a time of 3:50.39 in the women's 4x400 meter relay to cap off Samford's impressive outings for the day. It was the first time Samford ran in the event this outdoor season and is the third fastest time record by any group at Samford.
The Bulldogs will take a small break in competition but will return to the track on April 2-4, as the teams will split up to compete at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Alabama and the Florida Relays that will be held in Gainesville, Florida.
ETSU 12, Western Carolina 10
Western Carolina 7, ETSU 5
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - ETSU Softball opened its Southern Conference slate with a doubleheader split at Western Carolina Saturday, winning a back-and-forth, 12-inning contest in Game One, 12-10, before being edged, 7-5, in Game Two.
Western Carolina senior righthander Jordan Garrett, who entered the weekend owning the second best ERA in the SoCon (2.36), started Game One by tossing six scoreless innings; however, ETSU sophomore Taylor Carter enjoyed an equally-stellar start for the Bucs, allowing just one unearned run through her first six frames.
A seventh-inning, RBI single by Nicole Fox plated the game-tying run for ETSU, forcing extra innings.
From that point on, what had started out as a pitchers' duel became an all-out slugfest.
In five full frames of extra-inning softball, the Buccaneers (11-13, 1-1 SoCon) would go on to score 11 runs to the Catamounts' (9-18, 1-1 SoCon) nine.
Carter singled to left field to score Kelsey Chernak in the top of the eighth inning, giving ETSU a brief 2-1 advantage; however, Western Carolina responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning.
ETSU manufactured four runs in the ninth, highlighted by back-to-back, two-out homers by Cassi Pickett and Danielle Knoetze, to take a 6-2 lead. Yet, the Catamounts still refused to concede, scoring four times in the bottom of the ninth to match the Bucs.
Pickett, a freshman from Chattanooga, Tenn., has gone 9-of-13 with two home runs and five RBI in her last three games. She leads ETSU with a .397 batting average.
ETSU and Western Carolina traded runs in the 10th inning, making the score 7-7. In the 11th, both teams plated three runs, leaving the game still undecided heading into the 12th.
The Bucs' eventual game-winning run came in the 12th inning on an Alex Everett RBI single down the third base line, scoring Latosha Rectenwald. Fox then added an insurance run, hustling to score on a ground out to third by Kelsey Smith.
In the bottom of the 12th, ETSU's Whitney Leon struck out two batters and forced a groundout to shortstop to seal the wild, 12-10 win for the Bucs.
Everett, Smith, Pickett, and Carter each drove in multiple runs for the Bucs in the victory. Meanwhile, Fox, Everett, Pickett, and Carter each recorded multi-hit games.
ETSU, in pursuit of its second doubleheader sweep of the season, owned a 5-2 lead midway through three innings in Game Two after scoring twice in the first and three times in the third. However, the Catamounts rallied to plate two runs in the third and three in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead.
Western Carolina's Courtney Buchanan and Taylor Sigmon then combined to pitch four scoreless innings the rest of the way to clinch the win for the Catamounts.
After starting the season 26-for-26 on stolen base attempts, the Bucs were caught stealing twice Saturday. ETSU entered the weekend as one of just three teams in NCAA Division I to have stolen at least 26 bases while avoiding being thrown out (Arizona: 35, Tennessee: 29).
ETSU and Western Carolina will play a series-deciding, third game Sunday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m.
Mercer 5, Savannah State 3
Mercer 7, Savannah State 2
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University softball team caps off the week with two wins on Military Appreciation Day at Sikes field. The Bears defeated Savannah State in double-header action, 5-3 in the first game and 7-2 in the second. Mercer has extended its longest win streak of the season to nine games and improves to 24-13 on the year.
The Bears worked their selves into trouble in the first inning recording two errors to load the bases. Kirsten Stevens would battle back, recording six strikeouts in a row to keep the Tigers scoreless through the first two innings.
Mercer would get on the board first in the bottom of the second. Rachael Hugghins drove in two runs on a line drive to left center. Taylor Miller would bring in R. Hugghins to pick up her lone RBI of the game and give the Bears a 3-0 lead heading into the third. Savannah State wouldn't go away, scoring on a two run blast to left center, making the score 3-2. Mercer added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on two Tiger errors to extend the lead to 5-2.
After a scoreless fourth Savannah State added a run on a RBI single to make it a two run ballgame. The Bears and Tigers would go scoreless through the last two innings to end the game with a 5-3 Mercer victory. Stevens picked up her 15th win on her 15th complete game of the season. She also threw a carrier high 11 strikeouts with no base on balls.
The Tigers and Bears exchanged runs in the first inning of game two. Savannah State got on the board first with a RBI single. Meghan Rud scored the first run of the game for the Bears in unique fashion. Rud reached on a single to left field but advanced around the base path on an error by the left fielder for an inside the park home run.
After two scoreless innings the Bears got back on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Riley Carter drove in two runs on a line drive to right center field to extend the Mercer lead to 3-1. The Tigers would close the gap in the sixth adding one run two hits to make the score 3-2.
The Bears got the bats going in the bottom of the sixth adding four runs on five hits. Carter got the inning rolling with her second RBI double of the game. Shiver followed Carter with a two RBI single through the right side. The inning was capped off with a RBI single by R. Hugghins to give the Bears a 7-2 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning.
Megan Bilgri picked up her third win of the season in her second complete game. She recorded six strikeouts without sacrificing a base-on-balls, while allowing only four hits and two runs.
The Bears will be back in action next weekend, when Mercer opens up Southern Conference play against Western Carolina. The weekend will be the first time Mercer competes in a SoCon game since officially joining the conference in July.