Stevens Pitches No-Hitter to Put Mercer in SoCon Title Game
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Third-seeded Mercer’s Kirsten Stevens tossed a no-hitter to shut out fourth-seeded Furman, 2-0, on Friday afternoon in the 2015 SoCon Softball Championship at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Bears (37-21) advance to the winner-take-all SoCon Championship Game at 1 p.m. on Saturday on ESPN3.
Stevens pitched the second no-hitter in SoCon Tournament history, retiring 21 of the 23 batters that she faced with two first-inning walks the only blemishes. She struck out 11 batters to earn her 26th victory in her 29th complete game of the season. It was also the first no-hitter of Stevens’s career.
The only other no-hitter in SoCon Tournament history came last season when Georgia Southern's Sarah Purvis blanked Elon, 4-0. Purvis retired 21 of 24 batters faced in her no-no with two walks and a hit-by-pitch.
On offense, Taylor Miller led the Bears with two hits and an RBI while Taylor Rogers and Kaylynn Sloat accounted for the team’s two runs in the game.
Stevens out-dueled Furman’s Lindsey Bert, who kept the Paladins in the game throughout. She pitched a complete game and allowed just two runs on six hits with two walks against eight strikeouts. The freshman finished the season with a 22-14 record.
The lone scoring in the game would come in the top of the fourth, as Mercer scored the only two runs of the game. Taylor Rogers led off the inning with a single and Kaylynn Sloat singled to left two batters later to put two on with one out. After a foulout to the catcher, Emma Andrew doubled down the left-field line to score Rogers from second. Then Taylor Miller singled through the right side to bring in Sloat but Andrew was thrown out at home 9-2 to end the inning.
That was all the support that Stevens would need, as she set down the final 20 batters she faced after two first-inning walks.
The Bears will now face Chattanooga for the second time in two days. They were one strike away from topping the Mocs earlier today but fell 7-6 on a walk-off home run. During the regular season, the Mocs took two of three in the series with all three games being played on a single day due to inclement weather.
Furman Defeats Western Carolina, 6-2, to Advance to Semifinal Matchup
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Fourth-seeded Furman scored five runs in the final four innings to defeat fifth-seeded Western Carolina, 6-2, on Friday afternoon in the 2015 SoCon Softball Championship at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Paladins will turn around and play Mercer in the next game of the tournament with the winner advancing to the SoCon Championship Game on Saturday.
Alex Sappington led Furman (31-24) with a complete game in the circle, allowing two runs on eight hits with two walks and one strikeout for her seventh win of the season. Ambree Muller recorded three hits in five at-bats with a run and an RBI while Lindsey Bert drove in two runs and Courtney Jacobs tallied two hits in the win.
Western Carolina (22-31) was led by Anna Hughey with two hits, a run and an RBI coming off the bench. Taylor Sigmon and Crystal Cyr each added two hits to combine for half of the Catamounts’ eight hits. Jordan Garrett was charged with the loss in the final game of her college career. She recorded eight strikeouts in her final start to give her 740 for her career, adding to her school record.
Furman scored right from the get go with a run in the top of the first. Ambree Muller singled to left field and stole second to put a runner on second with no outs. Two batters later, Sieara Bishop walked and Taylor Jenkins was hit by a pitch to load the base with one out. Bert hit in to an RBI fielder’s choice that plated Muller, as Bishop was forced out at third on the play. Garrett would get a flyout to end the inning and prevent any further damage.
The Paladins added a run in the fourth. Bert reached on an error to lead off the inning and was followed by Elise Smith with walk. Garrett would get the next two in the order on a flyout and a strikeout. Jacobs came through for Furman, singling to center to score Olsen, who pinch ran for Bert, to make it a 2-0 lead.
Western Carolina responded with a run in the home half of the inning. Kara Salvo drew a lead-off walk and Emily Helton came on to pinch run and quickly stole second base. Heather Chastain would bring her around with a single to left center to cut the lead to 2-1. The Catamounts threatened for more, loading the bases with one out, but Kimrey hit a liner right at Jenkins at second, who snared it and doubled the runner off of first for the double play.
Furman tacked on to their lead with single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Bert hit a sac fly to left to score Jenkins with one out in the fifth to add the first run. Taylor Collins hit a lead-off homer in the sixth, her fifth of the season, to extend the lead to 4-1 for the Paladins.
The Paladins would score for the fourth straight inning with two runs in the top half of the seventh. Jenkins was hit by a pitch to lead things off and Bert followed with a single through the left side. After back-to-back strikeouts, Hope Smith singled off the pitcher’s glove to load the bases. Furman would then back-to-back singles from ?? Johnson and Muller to plate two runs extend the lead to 6-1.
Western Carolina add a run in the bottom half of the seventh, though, as Hughey drove a ball deep to left center for her first home run of the season to cut the lead to 6-2 with two outs. Sappington would close it out two batters with a groundout to second to keep Furman in the SoCon Tournament.
Chattanooga Tops Mercer in Walk-Off Fashion on Friday
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Anyssa Robles hit a three-run, two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give top-seeded Chattanooga the 7-6 victory over third-seeded Mercer on Friday at the 2015 SoCon Softball Championship at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Mocs (34-13) advance to the SoCon Championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. Mercer (36-21) will play the winner of Furman and Western Carolina later today for a spot in the SoCon title game.
The two teams entered the seventh inning with Chattanooga holding a 4-2 lead. Mercer rallied for four runs in the top half of the inning. Meghan Rud singled with one out and Carter tied the game with a two-run home run to left to give the Bears life. Shiver then singled up the middle and Rogers reached on a fielder’s choice, as an errant throw allowed Shiver to go all the way to third. Mercer would get both runs across with Shiver coming home on a passed ball and Rogers scoring on a single by Taylor, making it a two-run game at 6-4.
Chattanooga answered in a big way in the bottom of the inning. Stevens got a strikeout and a groundout to start the frame and was just one strike away from ending the ballgame. Nicole Osterman had other plans, though, as she singled to keep the game alive for the Mocs. Criket Blanco followed with a walk to put the tying run on base with the go-ahead run coming to the plate in Robles. She would give Chattanooga its third-straight walk-off win with a slicing line drive over the right field fence for the 7-6 win.
The Mocs were led by Robles with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with three RBIs and the game-winning run. J.J. Hamill contributed two hits, two runs and two RBIs while Sam Taylor and Osterman each recorded two hits in the win. The top six the Chattanooga order were a combined 10-for-22 in the game and accounted for all seven runs and RBIs.
Mercer got a hit and three RBIs from Riley Carter while Meghan Rud, Natalie Shiver and Kaylynn Sloat each had two hits. Every starter in the lineup for the Bears had at least one hit in the game, as they racked up 12 as a team.
Cori Jennings earned the victory out of the bullpen for the Mocs, her 14th of the season. Kirsten Stevens was tagged with the loss to fall to 25-9 on the season.
Chattanooga ended Stevens’ scoreless innings streak for the tournament at 13.1 innings with a run in the bottom of the first. After a lead-off groundout, UTC got back-to-back-to-back singles from J.J. Hamill, Sarah Beth Roberts and Nicole Osterman. Blanco then hit a line drive that the shortstop could not corral, allowing Hamill to score from third and keeping the bases loaded with one out. Stevens was able to minimize the damage, getting a shallow fly ball to center and strikeout to retire the side.
The Mocs added to the lead with a pair of run in the second. Taylor singled up the middle with two outs to keep the inning alive. Hamill then cashed in the two-out hit with a two-run home run to left center to extend the lead to 3-0.
Mercer got on the board in the top of the third. Emma Andrew singled to lead off the inning and Taylor Miller followed with a single down the first-base line to put runners on the corners with one out. Miller stole second with Meghan Rud at the plate, who grounded out to score Andrew and move Miller to third. Riley Carter then grounded out to shortstop to bring in Miller and make it a one-run game at 3-2.
Chattanooga got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a Blanco home run down the left-field line, her seventh of the season, to make it a 4-2 game.