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Chattanooga, Samford Advance in Winner's Bracket
No. 7 Samford 3, No. 3 Appalachian State 1
Appalachian (26-28) will play
Samford got on the board first courtesy of two Appalachian errors. Jessica Owens led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on an error while Kylie Harmon followed with a sacrifice bunt but the throw to first went down the right field line allowing Owens to score to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Two batters later Katie England hit a long drive to left field but Ashley Gaston reached over the fence to prevent the home run to end the inning.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the second inning on an Amy Gonzalez sac fly to deep left field and an RBI double down the right field line by Owens.
The Mountaineers got on the board in the top of the fifth, ASU loaded the bases on hits by Ashley Gaston and Sarah Rappe, and a Megan Rembielak walk. Katie Boyd drove in Andrea McIntyre, who reached on a fielder's choice, with an RBI hit by pitch.
Following the hit by pitch, the game was delayed 27 minutes with ASU batting, with the bases loaded and two outs, due to the lights not working. The game was moved to another field following the delay. After the delay, Robyn Harmon came into pitch for Samford and got a strikeout to end the inning.
Amanda Barrs earned the win for Samford going 4.2 innings, allowing five hits and just one run while Robyn Harmon earned her first save of the year, not allowing a hit in her 2.1 innings.
Kayla Richardson threw 4.1 innings in relief for ASU, allowing just one hit. Ashley Stubbs took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned while giving up four hits.
Owens and Barrs had two hits apiece for Samford while five different players had hits for ASU.
No. 1
Loudermilk (8-1) allowed three hits to go along with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched to pick up the win. Irwin (1) came in and pitched 1.2 innings of no-hit softball to pick up the save. Furman hurler Lana Mackey (13-14) took the loss.
The game remained scoreless through the first three innings before Tiffany Baker singled to left field to drive in Lyndsey Stiles. The Lady Mocs added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Tia Blosser brought in Kristin Holloway.
Leading the way for the Lady Mocs was pinch hitter Tia Blosser, who went 1-for-1 with a RBI. Toni Hutchison went 2-for-3.
No. 4
With the win
Kristen Gay drove in the lone Catamounts’ run in the fifth inning with a single to leftfield.
The Eagles added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to close out the game.
Leading the way for
Brianna Streetmon picked up the win for the Eagles to improve to 15-10. Catamounts’ freshman Katie King fell to 6-17.
No. 6 UNC
CHATTANOOGA, TN ? No. 6 seed UNC Greensboro used a five-run second inning and a solid pitching performance from junior Amber Harrell to eliminate second-seeded College of Charleston on Thursday, 5-3, in the losers’ bracket of the Southern Conference Softball Championship.
The Spartans (25-32) advance to play either No. 1 Chattanooga or No. 5 seed Furman on Friday at noon.
Emily Akiyama went 2-for-3 with a run scored for UNCG, while Mary Catherine Vercoe was 1-for-2 with two RBI. Harrell allowed just three hits.
UNCG answered emphatically, batting around in the bottom half of the frame to open up a 5-1 lead. Freshman Alex Emeterio led off the inning with a single up the middle and went to third on Kaitlin Merkt’s sacrifice and a Cougars throwing error. CofC catcher Amanda Maurer then threw a ball into right field trying to pick off Merkt at first, and Emeterio came in with the equalizer.
Whitney Sirois walked and Akiyama singled to left to load the bases with no one out, and Kristen Gabel came through with a single through the left side to plate Merkt. A Brittany Ausley single to center scored Sirois, but
Vercoe then smashed a single up the middle to score Akiyama and Gabel, knocking Forbes from the circle. Terri Mesko came on to stop the bleeding, getting a foulout to third to end the inning.
The Cougars got a pair of runs back in the top half of the third, loading the bases on a fielder’s choice, an error and a hit batter. Shifflett then drew a five-pitch walk to force in Kristi Woodall, and Shannon Howard singled off Harrell’s glove to plate Tiffany Harmon. Amber Shifflett tried to score from second on the play, but Merkt fired home in plenty of time to nail her for the third out.
Mesko and Harrell settled into a pitchers’ duel after the third, with Mesko allowing just a hit and a walk and Harrell just two walks and a hit from that point.
Amber Shifflett reached on a dropped pop fly in the fifth, but Sirois threw a strike to Merkt to catch her trying to steal second to end the inning. The caught stealing snapped a streak of 40 straight successful steal attempts for Shifflett, dating back more than three years.
Mesko retired eight straight after entering the game, not allowing base runner until walking Vercoe in the fifth. Akiyama’s one-out single in the seventh was the only safety Mesko surrendered.
Harrell (9-12) won her fourth straight decision, allowing just three runs ? two earned ? on three hits and four walks in seven innings. She struck out 11, one shy of the career high she set against Elon in her final regular-season start on May 2. Harrell, the reigning Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week, has averaged 10 strikeouts in her last four starts.
Forbes dropped to 2-2 on the year, allowing five runs ? just two of which were earned ? in 1.2 innings of work. She struck out one and walked one. Mesko worked 4.1 innings of one-hit relief, allowing just one walk. She also struck out one.
No. 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Chattanooga pitchers Brooke Loudermilk and Michelle Fuzzard combined to allow one run and six hits while striking out 10 batters as the No. 1 seed Lady Mocs held on to best No. 8 seed Western Carolina, 1-0, at the 2009 Southern Conference Softball Championship at Frost Stadium.
With the win,
Leading the way for the Lady Mocs was centerfielder Stiles who was 2-for-2. Hutchison claimed the team’s only RBI. Beatty was 3-for-4 with an RBI in a losing effort.
Loudermilk picked up the win to improve to 7-1 while Lauren Ross (6-9) took the loss.
No. 5 Furman 9, No. 4
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Fifth-seeded Furman pounded out 15 hits, included six doubles, on its way to a 9-3 victory over fourth-seeded Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference Championship opener for both teams Thursday afternoon on Field #1 at Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Paladins, who improved to 22-27 with the victory, advanced into the winner’s bracket and will face the winner of the Chattanooga-Western Carolina matchup on Thursday evening at Frost Stadium. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Freshman Jessie Homesley keyed the Paladins effort at the plate going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of runs in the opener. After
Homesley doubled to drive in a run in the third inning and Morgan Hughey plated Robertson on a sacrifice fly in the fourth top up the lead to 4-1 before Furman exploded for four runs in the top half of the fifth. Homesley and Termini started the rally again with singles and Katie Michaels doubled to left-center to score both runners. Stephanie Field and Robertson followed with doubles before Stephanie Cushing capped the rally with a run scoring single to center field.
Amanda Hall laced a two-run double into the gap to trim the margin to 8-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but pitcher Lana Mackey worked out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth and the Paladin offense added a run in the seventh for the final 9-3 margin.
Mackey (13-13) allowed just two earned runs on six hits in a complete-game effort to notch the victory for Furman. She issued four walks and fanned four batters.
Robertson, Cushing and Homesley each registered three hits to pace the Paladins while Michaels and Termini added a pair of base-hits.
Brianna Streetmon (14-10) suffered the loss for
Mackenzie Williams notched two hits for the Eagles while Hall drove in two of GSU’s three runs.
No. 7 Samford 6, No. 2
Samford scored what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning when freshman Amy Gonzalez singled to bring in Whitney Terry.
The Bulldogs cushioned their lead in the fifth inning when they scored four runs to go up, 6-1. Samford led off the inning with three straight doubles by Katie England, Kristy Lawrence and Robyn Harmon, scoring two runs. Later in the inning, a Jessica Owens single drove in a pair of runs to close out the game’s scoring.
With the win, Samford (20-28) advances in the winner’s bracket to face No. 3 seed Appalachian State at 7 p.m. tonight on field one at Warner Park.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Owens who recorded a pair of RBIs. Harmon had two hits. In a losing effort, the Cougars’ Amber Shifflett went 3-for-4 on the day.
The Bulldogs’ Stephanie Royall (9-9) picked up the win while the Cougars’ Terri Mesko (11-10) dropped the decision.
Samford scored its first run of the game without a hit. Owens walked, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. She later scored on a wild pitch by
No. 3 Appalachian State 2, No. 6 UNC
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Appalachian State’s Kayla Richardson threw her fourth shutout of the season and the Mountaineers’ Brittany Gaston drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly as Appalachian State University softball beat UNC Greensboro 2-0 in the first round of the 2009 Southern Conference Softball Championship Thursday afternoon.
With the win, Appalachian State (26-27) will play the winner of
The Mountaineers got on the board in the bottom of the first courtesy of three walks by UNC Greensboro starter Hannah Angel. ASU’s Sarah Rappe led off the game with a walk and after two more walks moved to third before scoring on an sacrifice fly by Gaston. Angel was able to get a strikeout to end the inning allowing just the one run.
Boyd put the Mountaineers up 2-0 in the third with her SoCon leading 17th home run of the season. The 17 homers moves Boyd into a tie for second in SoCon single-season history.
UNC Greensboro got two runners on with one out in the top of the sixth but Richardson was able to get back-to-back fielder's choice ground outs to end the threat. Laura Olenderski led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second on a single by Lyndsay Mouse, but both runners were put out by ASU shortstop Megan Rembielak.
The Spartans got a runner on in the seventh with a single by Mary Catherine Vercoe, but ASU ended the game when UNCG’s Whitney Sirois hit a ball to right field but Gaston was able to throw her out at first to end the game.
Leading the way for the Spartans was freshman Jordan Jewett, who had two hits for UNCG while Hannah Angel threw a complete game, striking out eight.
No. 8
The Catamounts advance to today’s 1 p.m. game against No. 1 seed
Third baseman Stephanie Beatty led the way for the Catamounts going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI. Designated Player Mollie Fowler also scored two runs. Elon’s Jacqueline Gonzalez led the way for the
Catamount freshman Katie King picked up the win improving her record to 6-16 on the season. Erin O’Shea (7-11) recorded the loss for Elon.
The Catamounts picked a pair of insurance runs in the third when Beatty doubled to left center field, scoring Fowler. Beatty plated a run on a wild pitch by Elon’s Melanie Helterbran.
Elon got on the board first when senior Patti Weber doubled to left center field scoring sophomore Gonzalez.