Samford 4, ETSU 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Junior Callie Brister went 3 for 3 at the plate with a pair of solo home runs to lift the Samford University softball team to a 4-1 victory over ETSU for its second-straight SoCon series sweep of the season.
Brister's first home run of the game was a crucial one as it gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead over the Buccaneers in the bottom of the fourth inning after they had tied the game 1-1 in the top of the inning.
In her next at-bat, the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native belted her second home run of the game and her 10th of the season in the bottom of the sixth to put SU ahead 4-1; it happened right after sophomore Abby Sweeney also crushed her 10th home run of the season.
Samford jumped on the scoreboard in the first inning thanks to an RBI fielder's choice from Caroline Wilder that scored junior Megan Dowdy from third.
After a solid week of pitching from the Bulldogs staff as a whole it was only fitting for the group to provide another good day of work from the circle. Sophomore Grey Adams received the start and pitched a solid three and a third innings with three strikeouts, two walks and a run scored while redshirt junior Mollie Hanson (15-6) cleaned up the final three and two thirds innings with two strikeouts and three scattered ETSU hits.
Dowdy finished the game 1 for 3 at the plate with a run scored while senior Abby Adams also went 1 for 3. Freshman Shebly Maze tallied a 2 for 3 outing to round out the Bulldogs eight hits.
Samford stays at home for a solo midweek contest against the University of Mississippi on Wednesday, April 8, at 6 p.m.
Furman 4, Mercer 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior Taylor Jenkins lined a walk-off homer over the left-center field wall to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Furman to a 4-3 victory over Mercer in the series finale of a three-game Southern Conference set on Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
By claiming the final game of the series, Furman improved to 18-18 overall and 2-4 in SoCon play. Mercer suffered just its second loss in its last 15 contests to drop to 28-15 overall and 4-2 in the league.
Jenkins was 0-for-2 on the day when she stepped into the box to start the seventh inning and quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. After working a full count and fouling off a pair of two-strike pitches, she hammered a Megan Bilgri offering into the hedges under the scoreboard in left-center to deliver Furman its fifth walk-off victory of the season.
Mercer plated the game's first run in the top of the third inning when Sieara Bishop was unable to handle Riley Carter's sharp grounder with two outs and Taylor Miller raced home from third base. Quirisa Mauga doubled the Bears' advantage in the fourth with a towering solo homer to left field.
Furman mounted a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth to grab a 3-2 lead. Lindsey Bert reached on a throwing error to open the frame and Taylor Collins delivered an RBI double two batters later to trim the margin to 2-1. Natalie Clemmons singled to moved Collins to third, Ambree Muller drew a walk and Bishop put Furman in front with a two-out, two-run double to the left-center field fence.
Mercer left the bases loaded in the top half of the fifth inning and Furman stranded three in the bottom of the sixth. Down to its last three outs, Mercer rallied in the seventh inning as No. 9 hitter Emma Andrew worked a leadoff walk, advanced to second base on Miller's bunt single and scored when Taylor Rud reached on a bunt single and the throw to first was off target. Miller raced to third on the errant throw, but Rud was cut down trying to advance to second by right fielder Andrea Abbatiello. Facing the No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in the Mercer order, Bert got Carter to fly out to shallow center field and Caroline Taylor fouled out to Clemmons at third base to strand the runner and set up Jenkins' heroics.
Bert held Mercer to just one earned run on seven hits in a complete-game effort to earn the win and improve to 13-9 in the circle. She walked two batters and struck out four in her second seven-inning outing of the weekend.
Bishop, who registered eight hits in the three-game series, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, while Collins and Bert each recorded a double.
Bilgri (4-2), who had entered the game to get the final out of the sixth inning, suffered the loss for Mercer. Bears starter Kirsten Stevens allowed two earned runs on eight hits in five and 2//3 innings.
Miller and Rud each collected a pair of hits for the Bears.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to face the Charlotte 49ers in a non-conference twinbill.
Western Carolina 2, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Pitcher Jordan Garrett tossed a three-hit shutout and junior Crystal Cyr hit a two-run home run to propel Western Carolina softball to a 2-0 win over UNCG Saturday at the UNCG Softball Stadium.
Western Carolina improves to 16-23 overall and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. UNCG falls to 15-17 and 1-8 in the SoCon.
The victory over the Spartans gives WCU a 2-1 Southern Conference series win. It is the second SoCon series this season for Western Carolina.
Garrett, a senior from Henderson, N.C., improves to 10-10 on the season. She becomes the first four-year pitcher for Western Carolina to have double digit wins in each season she has played.
In the seven inning performance, Garrett was just shy of brilliant giving up the three hits and striking out six. She did have to work around five walks.
Western Carolina plated two runs in the top of the third inning and it was all the offensive output the Catamounts would need. Junior shortstop Karley Harkey led off the third with a single that tipped of UNCG pitcher Nicole Thomas’ glove. Fellow junior Crystal Cyr followed with a two RBI homerun over the right center field wall scoring Harkey. The Catamounts looked to add more with one out Victoria Mariscal had a double that just missed going out of the park. Courtney Price followed a bunt single placing runners on the corners with two outs. A ground out ended WCU half of the inning.
UNCG has baserunners in five of the seven innings, including runners at the corners in the fourth inning but Garrett and the Catamount defense found a way to squelch any Spartan rally attempts. WCU turned a double play to end the fourth inning and Garrett got strikeouts to end three of the seven innings.
Western Carolina had seven hits in the game including two each from Courtney Price and Cyr.
Western Carolina will not play a mid-week games next week and will have six days off before it hits the field. The Catamounts will host Samford beginning April 11 for a three-game Southern Conference series.