Saturday, March 28, 2015
Alford Breaks GSU HR Record; Panthers Drop Two to No. 24 Jaguars
ATLANTA – The Panthers hit six homers and scored 18 runs, but it was not enough as Georgia State dropped both games of a doubleheader to No. 24 South Alabama at the Robert E. Heck Softball Complex Saturday.
GSU took early leads in both games but ultimately fell short 8-7 in Game 1 and 13-11 in Game 2. Ivie Drake led the way with two home runs, a triple and a double to go with five runs scored and five RBI. Callie Alford also hit her 33rd career bomb to become the all-time home run leader in program history.
“We would like to congratulate Callie for breaking the career home run record today,” head coach Roger Kincaid said. “She has meant so much to our program over the past four years, and we hope she keeps adding to that total the rest of the season.”
Game 1
Georgia State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one but it was not enough as the Panthers fell to the No. 24 Jaguars 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader. Drake led the way with two home runs and three RBI. Lauren Coleman also drove in two, while Ashley Christy hit her third homer of the season.
GSU scored three in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Megan Litumbe and Coleman. After South Alabama scored on in the top of the second, Georgia State pushed its lead to 5-1 on back-to-back homers by Christy and Drake in the bottom of the second.
The Jaguars scored three in the third to make it a one-run game, 5-4, after three complete. South Alabama then took its first lead of the game, 6-5, with two runs in the top of the fourth. After a scoreless fifth, USA tacked on a single run in the sixth to go up 7-5.
In the bottom of the sixth, Drake launched a two-run homer to tie the score 7-7. The Jaguars then scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the final frame, GSU stranded the tying run at third as South Alabama clinched the 8-7 win.
Game 2
The Panthers again grabbed an early lead in Game 2, but it was not enough as South Alabama came from behind to defeated Georgia State 13-11. Alford, Mandy Blackwell and Christy all homered for GSU but six home runs by the Jaguars was the difference.
Alford drove in two and scored three times. Blackwell, Coleman and Drake also finished with two RBI each and Christy scored three times.
South Alabama jumped in front 2-0 with a homer in the top of the first. Georgia State responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame to take 5-2 lead after one complete. Megan Litumbe drove in one, Coleman doubled to plate two before Blackwell’s two-run shot capped the scoring.
After the Jaguars scored one in the second, GSU extended its lead to 7-3 after two on Drake’s two-RBI double. South Alabama cut the Panthers’ lead to 7-5 after three with two solo homers. USA then scored five in the fourth to take a 10-7 lead.
Georgia State responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 10-10. Christy hit a solo homer, Drake tripled, Alford hit an RBI single and then scored. After a scoreless fifth, the Jaguars jumped back in front 13-10, before Alford hit a solo bomb to cut the South Alabama lead to 13-11 after six complete.
GSU had runners on the corners in the bottom of the seventh but a double play ended the game and gave the Jaguars the 13-11 win.
The series concludes Sunday, March 29 at Bob Heck Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
Follow along with Georgia State on Twitter (@GSU_Softball) and Facebook for the latest news. For softball season tickets call 404-403-4020 or click here.
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Texas State Softball Wins Slugfest In Game One; Falls In Game Two Against UL Lafayette
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State softball team launched four home runs and 12 total hits in game one of a doubleheader to defeat the No. 8 UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns by a score of 14-13 Saturday afternoon. Texas State would ultimately fall in game two by a score of 15-2. The 14 runs scored by Texas State was the most any opponent had ever scored against the Ragin’ Cajuns in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Bobcats move to 21-14 overall and 6-4 in Sun Belt Conference play after the Saturday split.
There were a combined 27 runs and 24 hits in the first game of the day. Ariel Ortiz led the Bobcats with a perfect 3-for-3 showing in game one while Kelli Baker, Kendall Wiley, and Braegan Hamilton all add two apiece.
For the day, Ortiz notched four runs on just five at bats with a pair of walks and an 85.7 percent on base percentage. She, along with Wiley, were the two Bobcats who averaged over .500 over the course of the doubleheader.
Run production started early and often in game one of the doubleheader as the Ragin’ Cajuns started the contest off with a two-run shot to left center field. A pair of strikeouts by Randi Rupp in the inning limited the damage to just two in the top of the first.
Texas State quickly answered the call and set the tone as to how the rest of game one would go. Baker led the inning off with a single through the left side and was followed by Ortiz to the bases by way of a walk. With two on and no outs, Courtney Harris sacrificed herself to advance the runners to second and third. A wild pitch by UL Lafayette starter Jordan Wallace scored the first run of the contest for Texas State.
After Baker scored on the wild pitch, Wiley kept the inning alive with a single down the right field line to score Ortiz and to tie up the game at 2-2.
The Bobcat defense proceeded to hold the Ragin’ Cajuns scoreless in the top of the second before rattling off a four run, three hit second inning to take a 6-2 lead over the visiting Cajuns. Texas State capitalized on a hit by pitch to start the inning by Sara Rupp to get the ball rolling for the Bobcat offense.
UL Lafayette then returned the favor in the top of the third as it took advantage of two Bobcat errors in addition to a pair of hits to cut the Texas State lead down to one.
Back-to-back home runs by Ortiz and Harris boosted the Bobcat lead back up to three in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Ortiz’s seventh and Harris’ fifth home runs of the season.
The only completely scoreless inning of the first game was the fifth inning.
The Ragin’ Cajuns came raging back in the top of the six, adding three more on a double and a home run to tie up the contest at 8-8.
Texas State was up to test in the bottom of the sixth and rallied back to score six runs on five hits. After Ortiz singled to right field to lead off the inning, Kortney Koroll rocketed her eighth homer of the season to dead centerfield to give Texas State the lead once again at 10-8. The Bobcats were not finished in that half of the inning as small ball and an error by UL Lafayette loaded the bases. Katie Doerre then stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter and hit a grand slam to left center to give the Bobcats a 14-8 lead. Both of Doerre’s home runs this season have been in pinch hitting situations.
UL Lafayette wasn’t finished itself as it led off the top of the seventh with a solo shot to left field. The Cajuns then got the bases loaded on a single, double, and a walk for Shellie Landry who would then hit a grand slam to all of a sudden cut the Bobcat lead to one with two outs. A fly-out to Braegan Hamilton in centerfield ended the contest to give Texas State its first victory of the season over a ranked opponent.
Rupp earned her 15th victory of the season as she put in seven innings of work in the circle for Texas State. She struck out eight while walking just three.
Game two fell in favor in the beginning to UL Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns got on the board in the first inning on a two-run shot and that would prove to set the tone for the remainder of the game.
UL Lafayette ultimately scored two more in the second, seven in the third, and four in the fourth to end with 15 runs in the game.
The offensive highlight in game two for the Bobcats was in the bottom of the third inning when Bianca Prado hit her first home run of the season to score the only two runs for Texas State.
Garner was handed the loss in game two after putting in four innings of work in the circle while fanning three. She falls to 3-2 on the season.
Texas State will continue play against the Ragin’ Cajuns tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled at 12 p.m. at the Bobcat Softball Stadium. Live stats, live audio and live video will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.
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Seventh Inning Homer Lifts Warhawks to Saturday Sweep of Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – A seventh-inning home run from junior Amye Barre lifted the Warhawks (23-8, 7-2 SBC) to a win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, securing a sweep on the day and a series win over Georgia Southern (8-34, 1-10 SBC).
The two wins on the day moved the Warhawks to seven wins in Sun Belt play, surpassing the six total conference wins of the 2014 season.
Multi-RBI home runs were the key to the offensive success in the doubleheader sweep. Game one saw a three-RBI shot from sophomore Vanessa Garcia, and the seventh-inning two-RBI bomb from Barre securing the game two win.
Sophomores Melanie Coyne and Ashley Dumoulin picked up the wins in the circle for the Warhawks. Dumoulin’s win is the first in her career at ULM with Coyne’s win moving her to 8-4 on the season.
Game 1 (W, 8-6)
The Warhawk offense knock home six runs in the first inning to claim an 8-6 shoot-out victory over Georgia Southern in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader match up.
The win marked ULM’s sixth win in conference play, matching 2014’s Sun Belt win total.
The six-run first inning was capped off with a three-RBI home run from Garcia, who went 2-for-4 on the day.
Senior Alexis Cacioppo went 1-for-3 with an RBI with junior Faith Bohack and sophomore Rochelle Roberts going 2-for-3 and 2-for-4 respectively with one RBI a piece. Bohack and Roberts combined for three of ULM’s eight runs.
Redshirt senior Miyuki Navarrete went a perfect 3-for-3, scoring one run for the Warhawks.
Sophomore Melanie Coyne picked up the win, going five innings and striking out five batters. Coyne accounted for all six of the Georgia Southern runs. The sophomore moved to 8-4 on the season with the victory.
Coyne also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and scored a Warhawk run.
Senior Jessica Colliver continued her streak of dominating relief outings, going two innings of shutout work. Colliver allowed only four hits and struck out three Eagles in game one.
Roberts led off the game with a bunt single and recorded her 23rd steal of the season by swiping second. Bohack knocked a bunt single to first base and advanced to second, Roberts moved to third on the play and scored on the throw (1-0 ULM).
Redshirt senior Miyuki Navarrete drew a walk to put two Warhawks on the bases. Cacioppo reached on a throwing error, allowing Navarrete to advance to third and Bohack to score (2-0 ULM).
Cacioppo moved to second on the stolen base. A pass ball moved Cacioppo to third and brought Navarrete home (3-0 ULM).
Junior Amye Barre drew a walk to put two on the corners with no outs, and Garcia delivered a fatal blow with her second home run on the season. Garcia’s three-RBI shot gave the Warhawks a 6-0 advantage that they carried to the bottom of the first.
Georgia Southern would answer in the bottom of the first with a string of three-straight hits to drive the score to 6-2 before Coyne delivered three strikeouts to close the inning.
After a scoreless second, Georgia Southern’s Emily Snider led off the bottom of third with solo home run shot to cut the Warhawk lead to 6-3. Coyne issued a walk following the homer, and the Eagles knocked a double to cut the lead to 6-4.
The Warhawks made a change in the circle, bringing in Colliver for her 18th relief appearance. Colliver forced a ground out to secure the first out of the inning, but Georgia Southern used a single to cut the lead to one run, 6-5 ULM.
Georgia Southern would load the bases with two-outs, but the Warhawk defense held strong to keep a 6-5 lead after three innings.
A scoreless fourth inning was followed by Georgia Southern using two singles and an error to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. The Warhawk defense turned a bases-loaded triple play on a fly out by throwing out base runners advancing at third and home to keep the Eagles off the board.
After coming back into pitch in the fifth inning, Coyne knocked a one-out double to give the Warhawks a base runner in the sixth inning. Roberts followed with a triple to left center, her third of the season, to push the ULM lead to 7-5.
Bohack knocked a sacrifice fly to center field to drive the lead to 8-5 Warhawks.
Georgia Southern battled back with a two-out home run from Morgan Robinson in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the ULM lead to 8-6, but the Warhawks held strong to pick up the game one victory.
Game 2 (W, 7-5)
A seventh-inning, homer from Amy Barre lifted the Warhawks to a win in game two of the doubleheader, securing the Saturday sweep and series win.
Barre went 2-for-3 in game two with two RBI and scoring two runs for the Warhawks. Cacioppo matched with a 2-for-3 outing, scoring a Warhawk run. Four additional Warhawks had added an RBI each to the ULM scoring effort.
Freshman Paige Porter started in the circle for the Warhawks, going 3.1 innings, striking out one and accounting for all five of Georgia Southern’s runs.
Colliver saw 0.2 innings of scoreless relief before sophomore Ashley Dumoulin came into the game to pitch the final three innings.
Dumoulin allowed a lone hit in her outing and struck out two Eagles as she picked up her first win as a Warhawk.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Georgia Southern used back-to-back singles to put two Eagles on the bases. A two-out home run from A.J. Hamilton gave Georgia Southern an early 0-3 lead.
Barre led off the second inning with a single to right center field. Barre stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Freshman Cheyanne Lyon singled to bring home Barre and cut the lead to 1-3.
Sophomore Sidney Coy executed the sacrifice bunt to move Lyon to second. Senior Mackenzie Miller singled to right field and advanced to second on the throw while Lyon held at third base.
Roberts knocked a sacrifice fly to centerfield to cut the lead to 2-3 Georgia Southern. Back-to-back pass balls moved Miller from second to score and lock the game at 3-all.
After Bohack reached on a fielding error and swiped second to get into scoring position, Navarrete doubled to give ULM its first lead of the game, 4-3.
Coy led off the top of fourth with a walk. After swiping second, Coy advanced to third on a sacrifice-bunt from Miller. Roberts drew a walk and advanced to second on a stolen base to put two Warhawks in scoring position.
Bohack grounded out to the pitcher, bringing home Coy and driving the Warhawk lead to 5-3.
Georgia Southern answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning, using four singles to drive home two runs and lock the game at 5-all.
The game would remain tied still the seventh inning. Navarrete reached on a hit by pitch to put the lead runner on for the Warhawks, but Georgia Southern threw out the redshirt senior as she attempted to swipe second.
Cacioppo doubled to right field to put the go-head run in scoring position. With two-outs, Barre knocked what became a game-winning, two-RBI homer to give the Warhawks a 7-5 victory.
ULM goes for the series sweep over Georgia Southern on Sunday, March 29 at 12 p.m.
For the latest on ULM softball, visit ULMWarhawks.com and follow the team on Twitter (@ULM_Softball) and Facebook (facebook.com/ULMSoftball).
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Five homers lift Mavs over App. State in two-game sweep
BOONE, N.C. – UT Arlington powered past Appalachian State with five homers to complete a two-game sweep at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium on Saturday.
Senior Meagan Michele and sophomore Mallory Foster each had two home runs on the day, Foster hitting both during an 11-run sixth inning in Game 2. The Mavericks (20-15) reached .500 in Sun Belt Conference play to sit at 4-4, while Appalachian State went to 9-19 overall and 0-11 in conference. UTA has won six of its last seven games.
Michele, battling with Mya Anderson for the team lead in home run this season, became just the seventh player in UTA history to reach double-digit homers in a year.
Game 1: UT Arlington 7, Appalachian State 1
UT Arlington used effective hitting from the leadoff position to take Game 1 of the series against Appalachian State.
Five of UTA's seven hitters opened up the frame by reaching safely as three would round the bases for a run. Sandra Mendoza and Michele led the Mavs overall with a pair of hits, while Sam Montes pitched her second complete game to improve to 9-8.
The Mavs opened scoring behind a pair of doubles in the first. Mendoza drove the ball off the center-field wall to open the first, scoring when Michele double to left with one out.
Michele opened up the third with a line-drive homer to left. Following a single by Shelbi Sikes, Mya Anderson matched Michele with a shot in the same direction for her ninth of the season.
After the teams exchanged three scoreless innings, UTA was able to strike again with a three-run inning in the seventh. Rebecca Stokes singled up the middle to bring home Nina Villanueva, who opened the frame with a walk. Foster provided a two-RBI double to left to give the Mavs a 7-0 lead.
Montes, seeking her second consecutive complete-game shutout, fell just short as the Mountaineers were able to pick up a run in the seventh. Montes finished the game with seven hits allowed, one walk and an earned run.
Game 2: UT Arlington 16, Appalachian State 7
The Mavericks exploded for 11 runs in the sixth inning to complete the sweep on Day 1.
UTA held a 5-1 lead going into the fifth with Michele's second homer of the day starting things off with a two-run shot in the fourth. The Mavs scored three in the fifth before the Mountaineers were able to rally.
Mavericks starter Taylor Simmonds appeared to be cruising along after allowing a run in the second. She gave up just two hits heading into the fifth before the Mountaineers got to Simmonds. ASU sent five across the plate, including a string of four consecutive hits, to take a 6-5 lead after the fifth.
The Mavs answered right back with an explosion at the plate that was led by Foster. Foster lifted the Mavs with a pair of three-run home runs in the sixth as UTA scored 11 runs in the inning. Mendoza reached twice in the inning as she had a double and reached on a walk. UTA had eight reach safely before the first out was recorded in the frame.