Western Carolina 5, Charlotte 1
Western Carolina 4, Charlotte 3 (8 inn.)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball swept Charlotte 5-1 and 4-3, in eight innings, Wednesday at D.L. Phillips Softball Complex.
The Catamounts improve to 13-18 on the season and have won six of their last seven games. Charlotte falls to 14-14 on the year.
Western Carolina senior hurler Jordan Garrett evened her record to 8-8 with the win in game one. She allowed one run on six hits and struck out two.
Garrett only had one inning in which Charlotte was a threat coming in the bottom of the sixth. The 49ers got bases loaded but Garrett and the Catamount defense out of the jam when Grace Beatty fouled out to third base to end the inning.
After three tight innings to start the game, Western Carolina had a beauty of a scoring chance the Catamounts let slip through their fingers in the top of the fourth. Sophomore third baseman Kara Salvo led off with a single to right field. Fellow sophomore Courtney Price followed with a double to right center. Salvo was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice that allowed Taylor Sigmon to reach first. Back-to-back outs ended the WCU scoring threat.
In the bottom of the fourth, Charlotte did not let the scoring chance slip away. Jessica Plemmons led off with a single to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Haley Pace. Plemmons scored off an RBI single by Chelsea Lisikatos. WCU recovered getting a line out and a strikeout to end the inning.
Western Carolina did not waste a scoring chance in the top of the fifth. Junior Karley Harkey beat out a single to first to lead off the inning. With one out 49er pitcher gave back-to-back walks to Emily Helton and Victoria Mariscal to load the bases. Salvo hit into a fielder’s choice RBI scoring Harkey, and reaching first, to tie the game at one.
Price broke open the game when she hit the second grand-slam of her career over the left center field wall to put WCU up 5-1.
Charlotte out-hit Western Carolina six to five but the Catamounts took advantage of timely hitting for the win. Price led WCU going 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored.
Western Carolina wasted no time scoring in game two plating three runs in the top of the first. Designated player Abigail Daniels led off with a single. Mariscal was hit by a pitch and Salvo walked to load the bases. Price reached first but Salvo was thrown out at home for the first out. Western Carolina was down to its last out when Taylor Sigmon struck out. Junior Crystal Cyr delivered when she hit a frozen rope double down the left field line to clear the bases and picked up three RBI.
Starting Catamount pitcher Courtney Buchanan’s two walks in the bottom of the fifth came back to haunt her. A pair of walks were the bookend to a fielder’s choice putting two 49er runs on. Plemmons hit a two RBI double to pull Charlotte within one and a Catamount error allowed the tying run to score.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Buchanan was lifted in favor of Sigmon. In a no decision performance Buchanan gave up three runs on four hits and walked four.
Sigmon forced a groundout facing her first batter in the bottom of the fifth for the second 49er out. However, she walked Beatty to load the bases. Sigmon struck out Courtney Carroll to end the Charlotte threat.
After Charlotte scored the three runs in the fifth, both teams were held scoreless for the ensuing next two innings to force extra innings. It was the second time in five games WCU has played an extra inning game.
With pinch runner Anna Hughey placed on second in the top of the eighth, Hughey moved to third on a groundout by Price. Hughey gave WCU the 4-3 lead on a groundout RBI to first by Sigmon.
Sigmon shut down Charlotte in the bottom of the eighth to close out the game and get the win. Sigmon tossed 3.2 scoreless innings, getting the decision, and improving to 2-2 on the season. She struck out three and walked two.
Western Carolina out hit Charlotte seven to four with Cyr and Amber Kimrey each getting a pair of base knocks. Cyr had two doubles in the game.
Western Carolina travels to Mercer this weekend for a three game series with the Bears. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. with Sunday’s single game also beginning at 1 p.m.
UNCG 11, Elon 9
ELON, N.C. – The UNCG softball team held off a late rally to defeat Elon, 11-9, Wednesday night at Hunt Softball Park. The Spartans scored 11 runs off 12 hits to earn the victory.
The Spartans improved to 13-12 with the win and Elon falls to 19-9 on the season. UNCG gave the Phoenix just their second loss of the season at home.
Junior Nicole Thomas earned her first save of the season after returning to the circle in the fifth inning. N. Thomas was 3-for-4 with two RBI at the plate and started the game for UNCG. Freshman pitcher Alicia Bazonski picked up the win improving to 6-4.
Senior Dominique Madruga was 2-for-3 and junior Allison Geiner collected two hits.
UNCG struck first in the first inning with a two-out RBI single from Nicole Thomas. Madruga worked a one-out walk and moved to second off a passed ball. N. Thomas produced her 24th RBI of the season with the two-out hit.
The Spartans batted around in the second inning scoring six runs off five hits, including a three-run blast from junior Lindsay Thomas to take a commanding 7-0 lead. L. Thomas launched her team leading fourth home run of the season with one out in the inning. Madruga followed with a single and junior Danielle Vega reached on a bunt single. N. Thomas picked up her second hit with a single to centerfield to load the bases. Sophomore Tory Wright earned a RBI walk to give UNCG a 5-0 lead. With two outs, sophomore Hagan Kiser roped a pinch hit double scoring two runs pushing the Spartans advantage to 7-0.
In the third inning, UNCG added three more runs off two hits and a Elon error. Junior Lacey Leary started the frame with a single to left field. After a sacrifice bunt, L. Thomas was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second. With two outs, Vega walked to load the bases and N. Thomas lined a RBI single up the middle. Wright reached on a error plating the ninth run of the game and Vega scored on a passed ball to give UNCG a 10-0 lead.
Elon cut the lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the third inning off a two out three-run home run from Emily Cameron. Alaina Hall had a infield single for the first hit of the game for the Phoenix. Kara Shutt followed with a infield single to put runners on first and second. With two outs, Cameron hit her first home run of the season to make it 10-3 UNCG.
The Spartans added a run in the fourth inning off a RBI single from Madruga. Geiner singled to start the inning and freshman Rachael McClaskey reached on a error to put runners at first and second. After a out, L. Thomas was walked intentionally for the second time to load the bases. Madruga picked up her ninth RBI of the season giving UNCG a 11-3 lead.
The Phoenix rallied back with a five run fourth inning off three hits and a UNCG error. Grace Eng roped a pinch hit RBI double with one out. Elon would continue to trim the Spartan lead after a two out two-run double from Shutt. Emily Roper followed with a RBI double for the fourth run of the inning. Cameron reached on a error as Elon cut the lead to 11-8 after four innings.
In the fifth inning, Elon loaded the bases with no outs as Nicole Thomas re-entered to pitch in a big spot. The Phoenix would score a run off a fielder’s choice as N. Thomas kept UNCG ahead 11-9 after five innings.
In the seventh inning, Nicole Thomas finished the game against Elon holding them off the scoreboard to give the Spartans a 11-9 win.
The Blue and Gold host SoCon foe Samford for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m. at the UNCG Softball Stadium.
South Carolina 2, Furman 1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Kaylea Snaer belted a walk-off homer to center field on a 2-2 count with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift South Carolina to a 2-1 victory over Furman in non-conference softball action on Wednesday night at Carolina Softball Stadium.
The clout spoiled an outstanding outing for Furman freshman left-hander Lindsey Bert, who allowed just one earned run on eight hits in six and 2/3 innings of work. The Tallahassee, Fla., native fanned two batters and walked just one while falling to 11-6 on the season.
Furman (15-13) jumped in front of the Gamecocks (22-12) in the top of the third inning when sophomore Andrea Abbatiello led off the frame with a solo blast to left-center field. It marked her third homer in the past two games.
Lauren Masters started South Carolina's rally in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out single to left field and advanced to second when the ball skipped past Paladin left fielder Courtney Jacobs. Krystan White followed with an RBI single up the middle to knot the game at 1-1.
After Gamecock starter Julie Sarratt set down the Paladins in order in the top of the seventh, Bert retired the first two batters she faced in the bottom of the frame before Snaer delivered the walk-off hit.
Sarratt earned the win to improve to 10-7 in the circle. She allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings while striking out eight Paladins and walking two. Masters led the Gamecock offense with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate.
Abbatiello went 2-for-3 for the Paladins.
Furman returns home on Saturday and Sunday when it entertains former SoCon rival Marshall in a three-game series at Pepsi Stadium. Saturday's doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. with Sunday's single game slated for a 12 p.m. first pitch.
Austin Peay 8, Samford 6
Austin Peay 8, Samford 7
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford University softball team fell 8-6 and 8-7 in doubleheader action against OVC opponent Austin Peay State University on Wednesday, March 25, at Cheryl Holt Field.
Junior Megan Dowdy continued to shine from her leadoff position as she recoded another pair of multiple hit games to extend her total out to 19 on the season. The Fairhope, Alabama native went 6 for 9 (.667) on the day with three runs scored and a double. Her best performance came in game two of the day where she went a nearly perfect 4 for 5.
It was mostly all Bulldogs (20-13) in game one as Samford held a 6-4 lead over Austin Peay (5-17) going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Before then the Lady Govs only managed to do damage to starting pitcher Jessica Stone in the bottom of the second inning with a three-run home run; from then on Stone only allowed one hit to the next 13 AP batters.
In the bottom of the sixth Stone gave up back-to-back singles with two outs on the board which prompted a change in the circle. Sophomore Gray Adams came in relief with two outs and recorded the third when she sat down Chandler Groves swinging.
Adams led off the top of the seventh hitting Burroughs on a 2-0 count and then followed up with a strikeout and a pair of walks to load the bases. Stone re-entered the game with the bases loaded and Morgan Hoeg at the plate. Hoeg drew a 2-1 count from Stone then lifted ball over the left center field wall for the four RBI game-winning grand slam.
It was all about timely hitting in game two against the Lady Govs as Austin Peay managed eight runs on just six hits and three uncommon Samford errors. The Bulldogs out-hit AP 15-6 in the contest but left 10 runners total stranded on base through the seven inning affair.
Samford held a 5-0 lead, thanks to home runs from Abby Sweeney and Callie Brister, going into the bottom of the second inning when Austin Peay struck for five runs of its own. The Lady Govs earned one on an RBI single to center field by Mel Pavel and then tied the game 5-5 on its second grand slam of the day by Groves.
The Lady Govs would then go on to score three more runs in the bottom of the third thanks to three hits and three Samford miscues to take the lead 8-5.
Samford battled back in the top of the sixth and seventh innings with an RBI single from sophomore Abby Sweeney that scored Dowdy in the sixth and junior Callie Brister hit her second home run in the game in the top of the seventh with one out to close down the Austin Peay lead to 8-7.
Brister finished the day an even .500 going 4 for 8 at the plate with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBIs; both home runs were hit in the second game of the day. Maze matched Brister with a 4 for 8 showing with three runs scored, a double and two stolen bases.
The Bulldogs will now prepare for its next road test as the team continues SoCon play against UNCG for a three-game series that is set to start on Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.