GSU Notches 30th Win; Takes Series Versus Georgia Southern
ATLANTA – Senior Taylor Anderson played her final two games at the Bob Heck Softball Complex Sunday, helping the Panthers to a 4-2 win in Game 1 and launching a home run in the 4-3 Game 2 loss against rival Georgia Southern.
Fellow senior Katie Worley got the start in the circle in Game 1 and went four innings while allowing three hits and two runs. Worley matched last season’s win total, improving to 14-9 on the year. Junior Kensey Caldwell provided the run support with a 2-for-2 day at the plate that included her 16th double and two RBI.
Freshman Amanda Chance relieved Worley in the fifth inning and held the Eagles scoreless over the final three frames to earn her third save of the year.
In Game 2, senior Chelsea Stanfield made her final start in the circle at The Heck. Stanfield, Worley and Anderson were each recognized following the doubleheader as part of Senior Day. Georgia Southern went up 3-0 early before GSU got on the board with a run in the third. Entering the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers trailed 4-2 when Anderson stepped into the box for the final time at home. The senior shortstop went out with a bang, clobbering a solo home run, the 29th of her career.
The rally would come up short, however, as the Eagles held on to win and avoid the series sweep.
Georgia State has now won 30 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons. GSU had won six consecutive games over Georgia Southern since the Eagles joined the Sun Belt last year. The Panthers pick up the point in The Rivalry Series upping the margin to 12-6 in Georgia State's favor.
With the series win, Georgia State clinches the No. 4-seed at the Sun Belt Championships next week in Mobile, Ala.
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USA COMPLETES DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP IN WALK-OFF FASHION
MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball clinched its final Sun Belt Conference series of the season by sweeping a Saturday doubleheader versus Troy at home behind a career-high-tying strikeout performance from Devin Brown and a walk-off double by Stephanie Pilkington.
Brown struck out 17 batters in a 6-2 Jag win in game one, tying the personal best she set against Florida A&M in Gainesville on March 4 at the Aquafina Invitational. The double-digit strikeout performance was Brown's 18th this season in 34 appearances.
Pilkington scored a run in game one and went 3-for-4 with three RBI in game two, including the walk-off that hit the top of the wall in right field and plated two runs for the 4-3, come-from-behind Jaguar victory.
"Today was a good day," said USA head coach Becky Clark. "We did a good job offensively in game one, and Devin shut them down. I'm proud of [junior right-hander Destin] Vicknair for hanging in there in the second game and for making the adjustments we asked her to make. She kept them off balance and gave our offense a chance to get back in it."
USA (31-16, 16-6 SBC) goes for the sweep of Troy (30-22, 11-12 SBC) on Sunday in the regular-season finale.
First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Links to live stats, video and ticket information can be found by accessing the Jaguar softball schedule page. In-game Twitter updates are provided for each USA contest via the program's official handle, @USAJagsSoftball.
Game One – South Alabama 6, Troy 2
Jaguar leadoff Emily Messer reached third to begin the game, after she singled, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, freshman designated player Dayla Gulledge doubled to straightaway center to plate Messer for a 1-0 South Alabama lead in the opening frame.
USA sent two across in the bottom of the third to go ahead, 3-0, on freshman left fielder Haleigh Lane's two-RBI double down the left field line, which scored Pilkington and Gulledge, who got on with a one-out single and walk, respectively.
Gulledge hit her third home run of the season to lead off the fifth inning, putting the hosts ahead, 4-0. Later in the inning, Lane doubled for a second time – tying the program's single-game record in the process – and sophomore second baseman Kristian Foster walked.
Fifth-year-senior first baseman Alex Breeden grounded out to move the runners into scoring position, and Lane scored on a wild pitch, before Messer's base hit plated Foster for a 6-0 Jaguar lead.
Troy answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to cut USA's lead to four runs. Erica Davis drew a leadoff walk, and Kate Benton got on with a bunt single, before Amanda Winters supplied a two-out, two-run double to center field to make it 6-2.
Gulledge and Lane each finished 2-for-3 with two RBI apiece, with the former scoring twice and the latter, once. Messer went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Brown improved to 19-10 with the victory, finishing with 17 strikeouts to a walk and two runs (both earned) allowed on five hits. The Mobile, Ala., native struck out the entire Trojan lineup in order to start the game.
Trojan starter Claire Graves suffered the loss, falling to 7-5 after giving up six runs (all earned) on seven hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Reliever Peyton Glover went 1 2/3 innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Game Two – South Alabama 4, Troy 3
The Trojan offense came to life at the start of game two, as Troy jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the first two innings. Meg Willis lifted a two-run home run to left field, scoring Benton, who got on with a leadoff bunt single, to put the visitors ahead, 2-0.
Benton scored again an inning later when, after getting on with another base hit, she came around on Hannah Day's RBI double to right center.
USA climbed back to within a run, 3-2, in the bottom of the fifth when Messer scored on a wild pitch, and Pilkington grounded out to plate sophomore second baseman Kaleigh Todd.
The Jaguars loaded the bases for Pilkington in the bottom of the seventh, and the senior delivered. Freshman right fielder Megan Harris got on with a base hit up the middle, and Messer and Todd each drew walks to fill the stations. Pilkington then propped a double off the top of the wall in right to score Harris and Messer for the Jags' second comeback victory in a week.
Pilkington tied her career high in hits and runs batted in by going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Messer went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, and Todd and Lane scored a run apiece.
Vicknair improved to 12-5 on the year with the victory, striking out seven to no walks and allowing only three runs (all earned) on 10 hits. The Reserve, La., native gave up five hits in the first inning to Troy, and then limited the Trojans to only five more across the final six frames.
Reliever Rachel Rigney suffered the loss for Troy after giving up one run (earned) on one hit with two hits in a brief appearance in the final frame. Starter Ashley Rainey was replaced after giving up the one-out single to Harris. Rainey went 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
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Texas State Celebrates Senior Day With 8-0 Victory Against UT Arlington
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team ended the regular season on a high note by defeating UT Arlington in five innings by a score of 8-0. At the conclusion of the game, the Bobcats recognized its three seniors, Kelli Baker, Kendall Wiley, and Ashley Wright for their effort and service to the Texas State softball team.
With the series sweep, Texas State has locked in the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Bobcats will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mobile, Ala. against the winner of the No. 6/No. 7 game.
The Bobcats improved to 36-18 overall and 15-9 in Sun Belt Conference play.
All three seniors contributed in the win Saturday afternoon. Baker had two RBIs on the day while Wright scored on Wiley's ground rule double to end the game.
Ariel Ortiz shined as she knocked out two balls including Texas State's first grand slam of the season. The Bobcats finished the day with seven hits while allowing just three by UT Arlington.
Randi Rupp earned her 26th victory of the season against UT Arlington and finished the regular season just one shy of the nation's leader in strikeouts with 293. Her 293 strikeouts matches her strikeout total from her freshman campaign.
WHO STOOD OUT
Ariel Ortiz / SS / Sophomore / Waxahachie, Texas
Ortiz hit two home runs in a day where she finished 3-for-3 from the plate for Texas State with five RBIs. The sophomore shortstop hit the Bobcats first grand slam this season and backed that up with another home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. She now has five home runs this season, four of which were hit in conference play.
Kelli Baker / 2B / Senior / Atascocita, Texas
Baker recorded two RBIs on senior day after walking with the bases loaded and hitting a sacrifice fly to right field to score Kayleigh Norte. Baker also scored to account for one of the eight Bobcat runs on the day.
Kendall Wiley / 1B / Senior / Austin, Texas
Wiley went 1-for-3 on Senior Day including the ground rule double in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the victory for Texas State. The run batted in was Wiley's 105th career RBI.
Ashley Wright / OF / Senior / Huntington, Texas
In a pinch hit situation, Wright drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth inning. A wild pitch during Taylor Webb's at bat advanced Wright to second before she would come around and score on Wiley's ground rule double to center.
SCORING
Bottom 2nd – Texas State strung together a walk by Sara Rupp and singles by Jaelyn Young and Bianca Prado to load the bases for Kelli Baker. Baker then walked to bring in the first run of the day. With the bases still loaded and two outs, Ariel Ortiz launched a grand slam to give Texas State a 5-0 lead. (5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
Bottom 4th – A double by Young led off the inning. Kayleigh Norte came in to pinch run and promptly advanced to third after a deep fly ball to right by Prado. Norte came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Baker. (1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
Bottom 5th – Ortiz led the inning off with a solo home run to make it 7-0 Bobcats. Ashley Wright came in to pinch hit with no outs and drew a six pitch walk. After a wild pitch sent her to second, she scored on the ground rule double by Kendall Wiley. (2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
NOTES:
Randi Rupp threw her 18th complete game and ninth shutout of the season. Rupp shutout the Mavericks in both appearances this weekend as she improves to 26-10 on the year.
Texas State has now won the last six straight contests against UT Arlington.
The Bobcats have won 11 out of the last 12 conference games including the last nine straight.
Texas State is 12-3 in its last 15 games.
This is the second time in a row that the Bobcats have earned the No. 3 seed in the SBC Tournament. Texas State will play at minimum two games at the conference tournament due to earning the first round bye.
NEXT UP:
Texas State will travel to Mobile, Ala. to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday evening. The Bobcats will play the winner of the No. 6/No. 7 game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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Cajuns Take Two as Senior Weekend Begins at Lamson Park
LAFAYETTE – Alex Stewart recorded a pair of victories, tossed 11 scoreless innings of three-hit softball and Kara Gremillion delivered a pair of two-hit performances as No. 9 Ragin' Cajuns Softball began Senior Weekend at Lamson Park with a 6-1, 5-0 Sun Belt Conference doubleheader sweep of ULM on Saturday.
No. 9 Louisiana (39-7, 20-2 Sun Belt) and ULM (23-31, 7-16 Sun Belt) conclude the series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. single game. Prior to first pitch, the Ragin' Cajuns will hold a Senior Day ceremony to celebrate the careers of the 2016 senior class.
Stewart (24-4, 1.47 ERA) turned in her sixth and seventh straight scoreless appearance at Lamson Park. She hasn't allowed a run in the facility since March 13 vs. South Alabama and will carry a string of 33-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched at Lamson Park into Sunday.
With the doubleheader sweep, Louisiana captured its 29th consecutive Sun Belt Conference series victory – a streak which dates back to March 2013. The Ragin' Cajuns, who locked up the outright championship last Saturday at Georgia Southern, reached 20 wins in Sun Belt play for the second straight season and third time in the past five seasons (2012-16).
The two victories for Stewart improved her Sun Belt Conference record to 15-1. She leads all starting pitchers in the league in most wins and fewest losses in league play.
Senior Shellie Landry tallied a game-high three RBI in the opener, starting with a two-run single in the third inning that broke a scoreless tie. Fellow senior Kelsey Vincent added to the lead on the very next at bat, driving a two-run home run into left center field.
The 4-0 cushion was plenty enough support for Stewart who hurled four hitless innings and Macey Smith who pitched the final three innings to collect a save.
The Warhawks avoided the shutout when Amy Barre homered over the right field wall with two outs in the seventh inning. Barre's homer wound up as the visitors lone tally of the twinbill.
Haley Hayden went 2-for-4 to pick up her team-best 16th multiple-hit game. With the two-hit showing, Hayden continued her streak of not having consecutive hitless games for the entire season.
In the nightcap, back-to-back run-scoring doubles from Gremillion and Brittany Nollkamper in the second inning gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 3-0 lead.
Aleah Craighton hit a solo home run in the third inning, her 16th home run of the season and 27 extra base hit which set a new career-high total, and Sara Corbello added an RBI double in the sixth inning to complete the scoring.
Stewart handcuffed the Warhawks, holding them to one hit after being provided the lead, to record her sixth complete game shutout of the season. The lone threat to her shutout came in the second inning when ULM placed runners on second and third base with one out.
DIAMOND NOTES: Prior to the start of the doubleheader, the Ragin' Cajuns recognized their graduates from the Fall 2015 semester and those scheduled to receive degrees during the University's Spring 2016 Commencement ceremony next Friday…Louisiana increased its win streak at Lamson Park to 19 games…The attendance of 1,772 gave the Ragin' Cajuns a crowd of 1,300-plus for the 14th time in as many playing dates this season…The pitching staff has now limited the opposition to two runs or less in 33 of 46 games, overall…In Sun Belt play, Cajuns pitching has held league foes to two runs or less in 18 of 22 games…Shellie Landry's three RBI in Game 1 marked her team-leading 16th multiple-RBI game of the season and the 10th time reaching three RBI…Landry, now with 49 RBI, will enter Sunday's play needing only one more RBI to reach 50 RBI for the second straight season and third time in her four-year career…Haley Hayden posted a base hit in both games and now has at least one hit in 36 of the Cajuns' 46 games this season…Hayden, who had an eight-game hit streak snapped last Sunday at Georgia Southern, began a new streak Saturday which is her 10th different hitting streak of the season…Kelsey Vincent's home run in Game 1 marked the 40th of her career and the two RBI upped her season total to 40 which equals her career-best output set in 2015…Freshman Kara Gremillion posted the first back-to-back multiple-hit games of her collegiate career, collecting two each game and finishing the twinbill 4-for-5 at the plate…Gremillion played error-free in the doubleheader, fielding a pair of chances cleanly, to extend her current string of error-free games to 13 (had a string of 21 straight error-free games earlier in the season from Feb. 26-Apr. 3)…For the season, Gremillion has committed only three errors over 127 chances (52 PO, 72 A, 3 E, .976 FLD%)…Freshman Brittany Nollkamper collected the first extra base hit and RBI of her collegiate career, sending a run-scoring double down the right field line in the second inning of Game 2…Alex Stewart worked 8-1/3 innings before yielding a walk to the Warhawks, extending her most recent string of walk-free innings to 33-2/3 innings…Stewart reached her second streak of 30-plus walk-free innings, adding to the 35-2/3 consecutive she pitched to start the season…Stewart has issued just 22 walks over 167 innings pitched...Adding in Saturday's 11 scoreless innings, Alex Stewart has held Sun Belt foes to 11 runs and 57 hits covering 19 appearances and 89 innings pitched in league play…Louisiana has now won 14 straight games vs. ULM which is a series-high streak (previous best was 13 games)…The Game 1 win marked the Ragin' Cajuns 100th series win over the Warhawks…Louisiana now holds a 101-27 series advantage, which includes a 44-10 mark in Lafayette…Sunday's series finale marks the final regular season home games for the following Ragin' Cajuns seniors: Sara Corbello, Lexie Elkins, Gabby Felps, Shellie Landry, Meagan Thomas and Kelsey Vincent.
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NCCU Takes Two from Appalachian State
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Appalachian State University softball gave up a 7-3 lead in game one before North Carolina Central walked off with a 9-7 win. NCCU took the nightcap as well by a score of 8-5.
The Mountaineers (9-45) entered Saturday with an all-time record of 10-0 against the Eagles (8-42) who ended their 2016 campaign with two wins on Senior Day inside UNC's Anderson Softball Stadium.
For the day, four App State student-athletes had at least three hits including Natalie Orcutt (5-for-8), Jenny Dodd (4-of-7), Heather Josey (4-for-9), and Megan Walker (3-of-6). Orcutt had multiple hits in back-to-back games for the first time since April 6 and Josey hadn't had three base knocks in a single contest since March 19. As for Dodd, she is six for her last 11 (.545) and Walker is five for her last 11 (.455).
The Black and Gold also hit three home runs on the day, which raised their season total to 46 and broke the program's single-season record of 45 set last season. Katie Mathewson hit her third of the year in game one before Cara Parker (11) and Josey (9) each had a blast in the rematch.
Game One: NCCU 9, App State 7
Through one inning, App State trailed North Carolina Central 3-1 after a three-run Eagle home run. The Mountaineers came out of the deficit swinging, though. In the top of the third, Pepper Butler hit a two-run double and Mathewson hit her two-run bomb to center and Appalachian State was up 5-3. The Black and Gold added a run in the fourth with a bases-loaded walk and one more in the fifth with Josey's RBI double to go up 7-3.
NCCU tied things up in the bottom of the sixth before winning it with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.
In the circle, Annaleise Kennedy lasted just one inning with three earned runs given up and then Vanessa Ciocatto (7-21) came in. The junior surrendered six runs, five earned, on seven hits in the final five and one-third frames.
Game Two: NCCU 8, App State 5
In a back-and-forth game two, there were two ties and one lead change before the top of the fourth inning. At that point, App State was losing by one, 6-5, to homestanding North Carolina Central. In the home half of the fifth, the Eagles added two insurance runs to go up 8-5 and that's where the score stood.
Starter, Claire Eosso (0-5), went three innings and gave up six runs, two earned, on seven hits. Kennedy was responsible for the other three frames and surrendered two unearned runs on just two hits. Defensively, the Mountaineers had seven errors on the day, three in game one and four more in game two.
Next up on Sunday, the Black and Gold will play their final two games of the season against North Carolina A&T at home beginning at 12 p.m.