UNCG Advances To SoCon Title With Two Wins Over GSU

Game Two
No. 5 UNCG 11, No. 1 Georgia Southern 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 5 UNCG Spartans defeated No. 1 Georgia Southern twice Friday afternoon to advance to the finals of the Southern Conference Softball Championships at UNCG Softball Stadium.  After downing the Eagles 2-1 in the first game, the Spartans struck for 11 runs in the second to top GSU 11-2.

After going the distance in the first game, Eagles’ starter Sarah Purvis returned in the second and was hit hard in the second inning by the UNCG bats.  The Spartans connected on five hits for five runs in the frame to go up 5-0 in the contest.  Among the barrage of hits, a Tony Wright three-run homerun highlighted the top half of the inning.

Georgia Southern scored a run each in the second and fourth innings to keep the run rule away, but three runs each in the third and seventh for UNCG kept the Spartans out of reach.

Catcher Lindsay Thomas blasted a three-run homerun – her third of the tournament – in the third and homered again in the seventh.  The two-run shot in the final frame broke the tournament record for total homeruns (4) and tied the mark for most round-trippers in a tournament game (2).  Her five RBI also ties her own record for most in a single tournament game.

Nicole Thomas was handed her ninth win of the season while Raeanne Hanks was credited with her third save.  Thomas gave up just two runs in four innings of work, and Hanks held the Eagles to just two hits in three stanzas of relief.

The Spartans advance to their second championship game in as many years and take on No. 2 Chattanooga in the finale.  A 1 p.m. first pitch is scheduled and will be broadcast on ESPN3.

 

 

Game One
No. 5 UNCG 2, No. 1 Georgia Southern 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. –  UNCG got an RBI single from Toni MacReynolds in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel the Spartans a 2-1 win over top-seeded Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference Softball Tournament on Friday. The win forced an elimination game between the No. 5 Spartans and Eagles that will take place at 2:45 p.m. on Friday.

MacReynolds drove home Kendall McKinney, who was pinch running for Nicole Thomas, who drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth. It was just MacReynolds second hit of the tournament, but it proved to be the game-winner and continued the Spartans’ tournament run.

UNCG got a complete-game win from Raeanne Hanks, who struck out eight and allowed five hits to the 32 batters she faced. Georgia Southern’s Sarah Purvis was credited with the loss, despite striking out 13 in six innings of work.

The Spartans got the first run of the contest in the bottom of the third after Tory Wright singled to left and Dominique Madruga doubled to left to put two runners in scoring position. Katelyn Bedwell hit a ground ball to third, but GSU’s Emily Snider could not make a clean throw to first, allowing Bedwell to reach first safely and Emily Lopez, who was pinch running for Wright, to score.

The Eagles would put up a run of their own in the top of the sixth on a Breanna McLendon double to left center that scored Katilin Johnson to tie the game at 1. The Eagles could not take the lead however, as MacReynolds’ RBI double proved to be the game-winning hit.

McLendon paced the Eagle offense with two hits and the lone RBI.

The two teams will play an elimination game, with the winner of that game advancing to the Saturday’s Southern Conference Championship, where they will play No. 2 Chattanooga.