App State Comes Back to Defeat UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas - Appalachian State University softball came back from a one-run deficit on two separate occasions during Sunday's matinee and defeated UT Arlington by a score of 4-3 to take game three of the series.
"I'm very proud of the character our team showed this weekend," said head coach Janice Savage. "After the first game, to bounce back and play the way we did shows how much fight and how bad they want to prove themselves in the Sun Belt. That fire carried over to today to earn us a win in the third game of the series."
Freshman, Jenny Dodd was the hero as she put the Mountaineers (8-29, 2-10 Sun Belt) up 1-0 with a home run in the top of the second and gave them the win with an RBI single through the left side in the seventh. The victory snapped a six-game skid for the Black and Gold and marked their first-ever victory over UTA (0-5 prior) while the Mavericks now sit at 25-7 overall and 4-5 in the Sun Belt.
As mentioned above, App State was the first to strike with Dodd's seventh four-bagger of the season that came in the second inning. The home team then answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to go up 2-1.
When the top of the sixth rolled around, Dodd was hit by a pitch to lead it off, Mallory Choplin pinch ran for her and was moved to third on Katie Mathewson's sacrifice bunt. Next up, Tiffany Taynor came through with a single to center and Choplin came around from second to even things up at 2-2.
However, UT Arlington punched back with a run in the home half of that frame and the Mountaineers found themselves down by one run once again, 3-2. Appalachian State answered the bell when it mattered most in the top of the seventh.
Pepper Butler hit a one-out double to center and just beat the throw back in to second with a feet-first slide. Cara Parker followed suit with a single to right field before the right fielder's throw back in was errant, which allowed Butler to score and Parker to move all the way to third. With the game hanging in the balance, 3-3, Dodd took care of business with her single to left.
Aside from the freshman catcher, another freshman helped to carry the offensive load. That rookie was Natalie Orcutt who turned in her third three-hit game of the season and first since March 12 against ULM (14-game span).
In the circle, Vanessa Ciocatto (6-14) went the distance for the fifth time this season and capped an excellent weekend of play (2.56 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched). The junior hurler gave up three earned runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Savage added, "This was a great team win with some big performances from key people. Vanessa pitched a great weekend with Cara, Jenny and Tiffany stepping up today with big RBIs for us. Natalie did a great job in the leadoff spot of getting on base and making things happen. Megan made a diving catch that saved a run late in the game. Everyone played well together and our chemistry coming from the dugout showed the true character of our program and team right now. It was another great day to be a Mountaineer."
On the other side, the Black and Gold handed one of the Sun Belt's best pitchers in Samantha Clakley just her fifth loss of the year (14-5). They also made the freshman throw 145 pitches, eight of which turned into hits.
App State will have another midweek doubleheader on Wednesday, this time against Radford with first pitch in game one set for 4 p.m.
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Trio of Home Runs and Stewart's Shutout Clinch Sweep
LAFAYETTE – A trio of home runs and Alex Stewart's fifth consecutive shutout in a Sun Belt Conference start gave the No. 4-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team a 3-0 win and the series sweep of Texas State on in front of 1,524 at Lamson Park on Sunday.
Haley Hayden (third inning), Sara Corbello (fourth inning) and Aleah Craighton (sixth inning) each launched solo home runs to provide the offensive support for Stewart.
Louisiana (29-3, 10-1 Sun Belt) posted its 19th multiple-home run game of the season and finished the series with 10 home runs.
Stewart (15-1, 1.58 ERA) struck out six, allowed only one hit and faced just three batters over the minimum. Her shutout of the Bobcats (23-15, 4-8 Sun Belt) extended her string of consecutive scoreless innings in her shutout streak, which began March 19 at UT Arlington, to 33 innings.
Louisiana entered Sunday's contest with the series victory in hand after claiming a 7-0, 5-2 doubleheader sweep of Texas State on Saturday.
Sunday's victory increased the Ragin' Cajuns win streak – which began with a 5-4 win over then-No. 5 Oregon on Feb. 20 – at Lamson Park to 14 games.
The No. 4-ranked Ragin' Cajuns return to the road next weekend and start a stretch of seven straight games away from Lamson Park beginning with a three-game series in Atlanta against Georgia State Saturday-Sunday, April 9-10. The Ragin' Cajuns and Panthers open the series with a 12 p.m. (CDT) doubleheader on Saturday.
Corbello's home run was her third of the series, one apiece in each game. She's now homered in six consecutive Sun Belt Conference games dating back to the Troy series opener on March 25.
Stewart's shutout increased the pitching staff's season total to 14 (six in SBC play) and marked the 24th time in 32 games holding foes to two runs or fewer (23-1 record).
Louisiana swept Texas State in a Sun Belt series at Lamson Park for the second time (swept initial SBC series in 2014). The Ragin' Cajuns upped their all-time series lead over the Bobcats to 25-3 (8-1 in SBC play).
The Ragin' Cajuns loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after Shellie Landry and Kelsey Vincent reached on walks and Craighton was hit by a pitch. Texas State's Randi Rupp worked out of the jam she created by inducing a pop up of DJ Sanders to shallow right field and striking out Corbello.
Louisiana broke through in a scoreless affair in the third inning when Hayden started the squad's half of the inning with a first-pitch, solo home run into the left field bleachers.
The Bobcats placed the tying run in scoring position after a hit by pitch and two-out bloop single into left field in the fourth inning. Stewart induced a ground ball from Taylor Webb for the final out.
Corbello extended the Cajuns lead to 2-0 with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth
Both Stewart and Rupp faced the minimum in the fifth inning. The Bobcats were retired in order by Stewart, while Rupp posted a strikeout and induced a double play to work around a leadoff walk by Hayden.
The last push by the Bobcats came in the sixth inning when an illegal pitch moved Kelli Baker to second base (drew a one-out walk after an illegal pitch wiped out a putout) with one out. A strikeout of Kimberlin Naivar and Ariel Ortiz lineout kept the shutout intact.
Craighton's home run added one for an insurance run in the sixth inning for Stewart who made quick work of the Bobcats in the seventh inning with a 1-2-3 frame.
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JAGS COMPLETE SWEEP OF GEORGIA STATE WITH 5-0 SUNDAY WIN
MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball defeated Georgia State, 5-0, on Sunday to complete a third-consecutive Sun Belt Conference series sweep.
Haleigh Lane led USA (21-11, 9-2 SBC) at the plate on 2-for-3 hitting with a career-high three RBI. Devin Brown pitched her ninth shutout of the year, striking out six batters to a walk and scattering four Panther hits to improve her record to 12-7.
South Alabama has won 10 of its last 11 games, including nine consecutive league victories. The Jaguars travel to Mississippi State on Wednesday, April 6, for a 6 p.m. contest scheduled to broadcast on SEC Network+.
Links to live stats, video, play-by-play audio 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.
USA took a one-run lead in the second inning, before putting the game out of reach with a four-spot in the fifth.
After supplying a one-out double, Stephanie Pilkington moved to third on Kristian Foster's base hit, and then scored on Lane's single to shallow left field, as USA went ahead, 1-0.
Brown retired nine of the next 10 batters she faced, before the Jaguar offense provided some insurance in a big way in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Messer led off the spree with her 10th career triple, which places her in a tie with former Jaguar standout Brittany Fowler for the most in program history. Kaleigh Todd followed with a base hit, and Amanda Minahan lifted a sacrifice fly to right center to plate Messer and double USA's lead to 2-0.
Lowe drew a walk in the next at-bat and moved into scoring position with Todd on a wild Katie Worley pitch. Worley threw wide of the mark for a second time to allow Todd around for a three-run Jag lead.
Back-to-back walks to Pilkington and Foster loaded the bags for Lane, and the freshman from Jasper, Ala., lifted a high pop up on the infield, but GSU shortstop Taylor Anderson lost the ball in the sun, and two runs scored for a 5-0 USA lead.
Arden Jobe drew a two-out walk, and Morgan Brown got on with a base hit in the top of the seventh For Georgia State, but Brown forced a pop up to Foster at shortstop to end the contest.
Messer, Todd, Pilkington and Foster finished with a hit apiece, with Pilkington scoring a pair of runs. Messer increased her on-base streak to 19 games, while Lowe pushed hers 17 and Lane, 11. Lane has now also hit safely in her last nine games, and Foster has reached safely in the last nine.
GSU starter Katie Worley suffered the loss after giving up five runs (all earned) on as many hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. Amanda Chance threw an inning-and-a-third of shutout relief with a walk and one hit allowed.
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Battery Lifts ULM to 4-3 Victory over Georgia Southern
MONROE, La. – Big days from senior catcher Amye Barre and junior pitcher Melanie Coyne lifted the ULM softball team in its 4-3 win over Georgia Southern Sunday at ULM Softball Complex.
Barre commenced the scoring in the bottom of the first as she hit a solo home run to left center which plunked the middle of the light pole. She also threw out India Davis to end the Eagles' second inning as the count to power hitter Morgan Robinson went to a dangerous 3-0.
The Warhawks (18-20, 4-8 SBC) plated two more in the third after junior Rochelle Roberts scored on a single from freshman Sydney McKay which the left fielder misplayed. McKay scored later in the inning to make it 3-0 ULM after sophomore designated player Hunter Hogan walked with the bases loaded.
The Eagles (20-17, 6-3 SBC) got on the board in the fifth after Macy Weeks hit a two-run homer off of Coyne on a 1-1 count. Later in the inning, Coyne allowed two hitters to reach base with two outs via a walk and a single. Coyne then retired Robinson on a flyout to Roberts in left to end the threat.
Barre was plated again in the bottom of the fifth on senior shortstop Faith Bohack’s successful squeeze bunt.
After Coyne sat down the first two batters in the sixth, GS scored a run on a walk and two singles. Coyne then buckled down and struck out pinch hitter Andrea McKenzie on a full count to prevent the Eagles from doing any more damage.
ULM displayed its team speed in the bottom of the sixth as three straight batters reached base via bunt singles. Unfortunately, they were all stranded after Bohack hit a hard liner and junior third baseman Vanessa Garcia fouled out to short.
Sophomore Paige Porter entered for Coyne in an eventful seventh inning. After allowing back-to-back singles, Porter got Robinson to fly out to center. GS third baseman Hannah Farrell then singled up the middle and ULM junior center fielder Sidney Coy threw out GS leadoff hitter Lydia Witkowski at the plate. Porter then ended the game as she forced catcher AJ Hamilton to fly out to left, earning her second save of the season.
Coyne (12-14) struck out four Eagles and allowed seven hits through six innings of work to get the win while ULM tagged GS ace Dixie Raley (14-8) with the loss after allowing three runs (all earned) in two innings of work.
ULM offensive superlatives included Barre, McKay and Roberts who each earned two hits and Bohack and Hogan who each notched an RBI.
The Warhawks return to action Tuesday in their third attempt playing Northwestern State in Natchitoches as the previous two were postponed due to excessive rain.
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Troy Falls Short in Hard-Fought Game Against the Gamecocks
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Troy softball team played catch-up the entire game against South Carolina but couldn't pull out the win in the final inning and fell 10-7 to the Gamecocks on Sunday afternoon.
Troy (23-12) scored in every inning except the first and sixth and racked up seven hits in the game. The first Trojan run came in the second inning when Allison Moore scored on a throwing error. Erica Davis plated the second run for the Trojans in the third when she crossed the plate on a throwing error by the catcher.
Troy added another in the fourth when Carli Kayler doubled to left center to score Becca Hartley and close the gap to 7-3. The fifth inning saw three Trojan runs when Hartley lifted a ball over the center field wall to shrink the Gamecocks lead to 10-6. The Trojans plated one more run in the top of the seventh to make the final score 10-7.
South Carolina (27-9) had a big third inning as the Gamecocks plated six runs. Kennedy Clark got things started for the Gamecocks with a double that scored Kenzi Maguire. The final two runs of the six-run third inning came off the bat of Alaynie Page when she singed through the right side and scored Lex Hull and Taylor Williams.
Ashley Rainey (12-9) suffered the loss in the circle for the Trojans giving up three runs on four hits in two innings. Jessica Elliot (14-2) got the win for the Gamecocks tossing five innings and giving up six runs on four hits.
The Trojans are back in action Wednesday when they travel to Auburn to take on the No. 3 Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.