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UTC, GSU Advance In SoCon Softball Tournament
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The Chattanooga Mocs softball team claimed a 6-0 win over No. 3 Furman in the second round of the Southern Conference Softball Championships Thursday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium.
The second-seeded Mocs (32-19) offense put up six runs on 10 hits and took advantage of four Paladin errors over the course of the seven-inning contest. Along with an aggressive offense, sophomore starting pitcher Katie Henderson continued her dominance in the circle with a four-hit, seven-strikeout outing.
Her second shutout of the tournament, Henderson has not allowed a run to score in 27 consecutive innings. Her scoreless-inning streak in the tournament is up to 14 and her strikeout total has risen to 22.
Scoreless through two, Chattanooga put five runs on the board in the third on four hits and one error. Junior Nicole Osterman got the scoring started with a solo-homerun to left-center for her fifth round-tripper of 2014.
The Mocs tallied four more runs with two outs on a couple of timely doubles against Furman starting pitcher Lauren Collier and reliever Alex Sappington. With two runners on, senior Stephanie Rieck sprayed a double to left-center and junior Sarah Beth Roberts smashed a frozen-rope double to the same spot. Scoring on the two plays were Jesslyn Stockard, Kaiti Dutton, Sam Taylor and Rieck.
A sixth run was tacked on in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of Dutton. With Cricket Blanco aboard at first and pinch runner Marina Wilkerson at second, a single down the line in right allowed Wilkerson to motor home.
Dutton was 3-for-4 on the afternoon with an RBI and run scored while both Osterman and sophomore Anyssa Robles tallied two hits.
Collier (18-12) took the loss, pitching 2 2/3 innings while giving up four runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Chattanooga moves on to play Friday at 10 a.m. in the semifinals against the winner of Game Nine between Western Carolina and a team to be named later. Furman will play UNCG at 9:30 p.m.
No. 1 Georgia Southern 3, No. 4 Samford 0
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Georgia Southern continued its success in the Southern Conference Softball Championships Thursday evening with a 3-0 win over No. 4 Samford. The No. 1 Eagles recorded their second shutout of the tournament on the heels of yesterday’s Sarah Purvis no-hitter while the Bulldogs fall for the first time on the week.
Purvis struck out 12 batters and allowed just five hits over seven innings of work. Three runs were all the right-hander needed to cruise to her second win of the tourney and 20th of the year.
The Eagles scored early with one run on the first and two in the third. An RBI-single through the left off the bat of Kourtny Thomas plated the game’s first run. Georgia Southern added to its lead just two innings later as a Morgan
Robinson threaded a run-scoring single through the middle and an RBI-fielder’s choice from Kaitlyn Johnson scored Thomas from third.
Samford managed five hits against Purvis but stranded its six base runners. Bulldogs’ starter Molly Hanson was able to hold the Eagles to six hits through three innings while reliever Rebecca Leonard tossed four innings of one-hit softball. Despite Leonard’s efforts, Samford only managed one hit in the game’s final four frames.
Samford’s best chance came in the third as Megan Dowdy singled to lead off the inning and Cali Brister singled to short with one out, but a strikeout and pop-up ended the inning prematurely for the ‘Dogs.
Hanson was handed the loss and the Bulldogs will play Western Carolina immediately following the game just completed. Georgia Southern goes on to take on the winner of Furman vs. UNCG Friday at 12:30 p.m.