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GSU, Samford Get Wins in SoCon Softball Tournament
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Senior Sarah Purvis and defending Southern Conference Tournament and regular season champion Georgia Southern proved to be too much for No. 8 Elon Wednesday afternoon as the starting pitcher tossed the first no-hitter in Southern Conference Softball Championships history, winning 4-0.
Purvis struck out 13 batters and allowed just three base runners to reach in the first-round victory. The right-hander retired 21 of Elon’s 24 batters. The only Phoenix batters to reach were Emily Cameron (walk) and Aly Quintana (walk, hit by pitch) in the second, sixth and seventh innings.
The Eagles scored in each of their first two innings to take a 2-0 lead. A wild pitch from Elon starter Caitlin O’Shea allowed Emily Snider – reaching earlier in the inning on a single to right – to score from third. The second inning’s run came courtesy of a solo homerun to right-center from Kaitlyn Johnson.
A run-scoring fielder’s choice in the fourth gave Georgia Southern a 3-0 advantage. Shortstop Kourtny Thomas reached on balls and pinch runner Breigh Findlay advanced to second. Johnson’s second hit of the game – a single to right – placed runners on the corners, and a fielder’s choice from Allen brought Findlay in to score.
The final run of the game came in the sixth inning as Lexi Allen grounded out to second with one out, scoring Thomas from third.
Georgia Southern will take on the winner of No. 4 Samford and No. 5 UNCG at 5:30 p.m. Thursday while Elon takes on the loser of the aforementioned game at 11:30 a.m.
Samford 3, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Samford got a solid pitching performance from Mollie Hanson to earn a 3-0 victory over No. 5 UNCG(27-25) in the opening round of the Southern Conference Softball Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., on Wednesday.
Hanson went the distance for fourth-seeded Samford (37-16), surrendering just three hits and allowing one runner to reach third in the victory. She picked up three strikeouts and walked two as she improved her record to 23-8 on the season.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the second, as Hannah Taylor and Arica Dykes both drew walks from Raeanne Hanks before Caroline Wilder plunked by Hanks to load the bases. The Spartans would get a force out at home on a fielder’s choice before Megan Dowdy plated Dykes with a single to make it 1-0 Samford.
Samford got a runner on first after Megan Dowdy was hit by a Raeanne Hanks pitch in the bottom of the fifth. In the next at bat, Abby Adams grounded back to Hanks, who overthrew her teammate covering second, allowing Adams to Dowdy to advance to second. After a wild pitch moved Adams to second and Dowdy to third, Caitlin Bice hit a shot to third base to score Dowdy, and Adams advanced home on an error from UNCG’s Danielle Vega, putting the Bulldogs up 3-0.
Dowdy led the Bulldog offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. UNCG was paced offensively by Allison Geiner, Tory Wright and Nicole Thomas, who each picked up a hit in the loss.
Hanks (13-16) was credited with the loss, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts.
Samford advances to play No. 1 Georgia Southern at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, while UNCG will face No. 8 Elon at 11:30 a.m.