Coastal Carolina Takes Rubber Game from ULM
CONWAY - Coastal Carolina came from behind in the rubber game to win the weekend series over the ULM Warhawks, 6-4, Sunday afternoon. The win improves CCU's record to 27-10, 6-5 in the Sun Belt, and drops ULM to 20-15, 5-7.
The Warhawks hit a first-inning, solo home run to take the early one run lead before adding two more in the second inning on a Samantha Agamaite two run shot to center field.
The Chanticleers clawed back into the game when Kassidy Smith walked and scored on an Alexis Alvino home run to center to make it 3-2 in favor of ULM.
Ashley Guillette came in to relieve starter Taylor Rahach in the top of the third. The Warhawks were able to push across a fourth run on two singles and a sacrifice to left field to lead 4-2.
The Chants did damage in the home portion of the third, plating four runs. Angela Buccilli singled down the left field line and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kailey Mellen pushed Buccilli across the plate for the first run of the inning on a single to left center. Mellen then stole second and scored when Amanda Daneker doubled to left center to tie it at 4-4. Lauren Fedorchak, pinch running for Daneker, scored when Smith hit her seventh home run of the season to give Coastal a 6-4 lead.
Twice in the later innings Guillette was able to work out of tight jams. Once in the fifth with bases loaded and again in the seventh with ULM getting two hits and stranding two runners.
Coastal Carolina will travel to Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern for a three game series in Sun Belt action, Saturday and Sunday, April 7 and 8.
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Cajuns Pull Away Early, Take Series Finale from Eagles
STATESBORO, Ga. – 17th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball opened the series finale against Georgia Southern with three consecutive two-run innings and went on to claim a 6-2 win on Sunday at Eagle Field to complete the series sweep.
The Ragin' Cajuns entered the day with the series victory in hand after claiming a 15-0 (5 inn.), 10-2 (6 inn.) doubleheader sweep on Saturday.
Haley Hayden picked up the first of her game-high three RBI with a two-run homer in the first inning, giving Louisiana a lead it wouldn't relinquish just two batters into the contest.
With the win, the Ragin' Cajuns (26-5, 9-0 Sun Belt) continued their undefeated start to Sun Belt play and extended their season-high winning streak to nine games. At 9-0, it's the best Sun Belt start for Louisiana since opening the 2014 league slate at 10-0.
Louisiana concluded its first road trip of the 2017 season with a 6-0 mark, collecting sweeps of South Alabama and Georgia Southern. The squad returns to Lamson Park next weekend for a three-game Sun Belt series with Troy set for April 8-9.
The Cajuns continued building their lead off of Georgia Southern starting pitcher Dixie Raley in their second at bat. Kara Gremillion tripled into left center to plate Kelli Martinez, who reached on a fielding error, then Hayden brought her home with a sacrifice fly that increased the advantage to 4-0.
Raley ran into trouble again in the third inning as Louisiana loaded the bases with no outs. She was replaced by Kierra Camp who allowed only two runs to be added to the Cajuns lead after a misplay Gremillion grounder with two outs and the bases loaded.
While her teammates were building a 6-0 lead, Alex Stewart had faced only one batter over the minimum and struck out four over the first three innings.
Georgia Southern (15-19, 5-7 Sun Belt) picked up two runs in the fourth inning on a ground out and single to trim the Louisiana lead to 6-2.
The host-Eagles later threatened for more, loading the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham took over for Stewart in the circle and retired the next three hitters to preserve the four-run margin.
Denham, who picked up her first collegiate save after staring down the tying run at the plate three times in the sixth inning, worked around a two-out hit by pitch to close out the hosts in the seventh.
Hayden's home run in the first inning was her second of the series and sixth of the season. It represented her 96th career extra base hit (47 doubles, 6 triples, 43 home runs). Her RBI total tied her season-high figure, marked the fourth time posting three and was her eighth multiple-RBI game of the season.
Corin Voinchè was 2-for-4 at the plate, topping the Cajuns in hits, for her first multiple-hit game of the season. Voinchè started at first base and hit seventh in the lineup for the third straight game.
Stewart (12-3, 1.96 ERA) picked up her second win of the series and improved to 5-0 in Sun Belt play. She held the Eagles to two runs off seven hits and struck out five. Her career Sun Belt Conference record advanced to 26-1.
Stewart's efforts allowed the pitching staff to continue its season-long trend of holding foes to five runs or fewer (now 31 games long). Personally, she yielded no more than two earned runs for the 10h straight start.
Camp turned in a stellar relief effort for Georgia Southern to keep her squad in line for a potential rally in the latter stages of the game. She worked five innings, allowed only one hit and retired the final 10 Cajuns she faced.
Louisiana extended its all-time series lead over Georgia Southern to 10-1 which includes an 8-1 mark in Sun Belt games. The Ragin' Cajuns, who improved to 5-1 at Eagle Field in Statesboro, avenged the Sunday loss to the Eagles in the 2016 visit.
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JAGUAR SOFTBALL COMPLETES SWEEP OVER APP STATE WITH 5-3 WIN
BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama softball team completed the Sun Belt Conference series sweep Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 win over Appalachian State at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
"Anytime you get road wins in conference you have to be please with that," South Alabama head coach Becky Clark said. "I was glad to see us come up here and take care of business. We've got to keep this forward momentum and lock into what we've created for ourselves from an execution, fight and mentality standpoint. Staying locked into that is the biggest thing for us. We need to stay locked in every single inning and every single pitch; we've just got to keep working."
South Alabama (23-12, 6-7 SBC) will now return home to host Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field. Live stats and web streaming can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-game Twitter updates via the softball program's official handle, @USAJagsSoftball.
Destin Vicknair, Kaleigh Todd and Savanna Mayo each recorded multi-hit performances in Sunday's win, while Haleigh Lowe was 1-of-1 with a pair of walks. Vicknair was 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Todd and Mayo were each 2-for-4. Kristian Foster drove in two runs in the finale and finished the series with five RBI. Amanda Minahan and Morgan Lutticken also had a hit and a RBI against the Mountaineers.
Devin Brown (12-6) won her third-straight and went the distance for her 14th complete game of the season. In her seven innings of work, Brown allowed three runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out five.
First baseman Haley Stewart was the lone Appalachian State (12-21, 0-9 SBC) player to record more than one hit as she finished the day 2-for-3 with a RBI. Katie Mathewson drove in both her runs on her first home run of the season in the fourth.
App State starter Katie Williford (1-1) took the loss and lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Annaleise Kennedy pitched 1.1 innings in relief and allowed three runs on four hits, while Kenzie Loganecker closed out the game with three scoreless innings.
The Jaguars struck first with a run in the top of the second. Vicknair walked on four-straight to start things off and Mayo then reached on a swinging-bunt single. The duo was moved into scoring position one batter later on Abby Krzywiecki's sacrifice bunt, setting the table for Lutticken. The freshman catcher making just her second start behind the plate lined a solid single to center, scoring Vicknair. USA threatened to add to its lead, loading the bases with just the one out, but Williford was able to get Todd to line out to second and get Megan Harris swinging to end the inning.
South added to its lead in its next at-bat. With two away in the inning, Vicknair drove a 1-1 offering from Williford deep over the wall in straight-away center for her first home run as a Jag and giving USA a 2-0 advantage.
Lowe and Lane sparked the Jag offense in the fourth when they reached on back-to-back one-out infield singles. The single by Todd extended her reached base safely streak to 14 games. After moving around to second and third on a ground out, Foster delivered a two-run single to center and advanced to second on the throw home. With the two-run base hit, Foster has now recorded 14 RBI in her last 13 games.
Foster then stole third and came around to score South's third run of the inning on Minahan's RBI single, extending the Jaguar advantage to 5-0.
In the home half of the fourth, App State answered back with two runs of its own. Natalie Orcutt worked a full-count walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to begin things and drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Mathewson cut the Jag advantage to three (5-2) when she drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left for a two-out, two-run home run. It was her first home run of the season.
The Mountaineers made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh as they scored a run and brought the tying winning run to the plate. Ally Walters led off the inning with a single to center and two batters later, Dodd singled through the right side of the infield. Brown then got Keri White to strike out looking, but Stewart lined a double to left to bring around Walters and cut the deficit to 5-3. With two outs and the winning run at the plate, Brown was able to get pinch-hitter Taylor Rivenburgh to pop out to Todd at second to end the game.
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SB: Comeback Win Secures Series For Mavs
TROY, Ala. – A come-from-behind win over Troy on Sunday helped UT Arlington softball claim a big Sun Belt series win on the road.
"The team came out and did a great job of competing," UTA coach Kristie Fox said. "Our focus was on playing with confidence and taking care of the ball."
With the win the Mavericks improve to 19-17 overall and 5-7 in the SBC, while the Trojans dropped to 16-22 and 4-9.
Troy jumped out to the early lead, scoring an unearned run in the first.
A Trojan error scored Mallory Foster, who doubled to leadoff the second, to tie the game at one, before a bases loaded hit-by-pitch gave the Trojans their second lead of the game in the third.
Mendoza slapped a leadoff single down the left field line to spark UTA's second comeback of the game in the sixth. After being moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Krista Rude, Laura Curry laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Mendoza and tie the game at two.
Whitney Walton's hot weekend at the plate continued as she drove in the game winner with a RBI single up the middle to score Rude.
With the second squeeze bunt of the day and a RBI base hit by Walton, the Mavs plated two insurance runs in the seventh.
Sam Clakley went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs, one earned on five hits, striking out three to improve to 14-9.
Mendoza reached base in all four plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a walk.
Walton recorded her second multiple-hit game of the series with a 2-for-4 performance, to finish the weekend 5-for-8 with two runs and four RBI.
"Getting a series win on the road is big," Fox said. "We need to take this momentum into next weekend."
UTA continues its six-game road trip with a three-game series at Georgia State April 8-9.
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Softball Falls 5-2 to UT Arlington
TROY, Alabama – Troy fell to UT Arlington in game three on Sunday 5-2 at the Troy Softball Complex. The Mavericks took the series against the Trojans winning two of the three match-ups.
Troy (16-22, 4-9) took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a sacrifice fly from Erica Davis scored Becca Hartley from third.
The Mavericks answered back with a run of their own as Mallory Foster led off with a double to get on base and a fielding error from Troy allowed Foster to come home and tie the game 1-1.
The Trojans rallied back in the third to regain the lead. Madeline Porter led off with a base hit and Stephanie Snyder followed with a fielder's choice. Davis singled to center field to out two runners on base for freshman Grace Mirly. Mirly singled to right field to load the bases for the Trojans. Cassidy McDilda brought in Troy's final run of the game as she took a hit by pitch to bring Davis home.
After two scoreless innings, the Mavericks took the momentum scoring two runs in the sixth and seventh innings that the Trojans could not find an answer to.
Claire Graves earned her 16th start in the circle for Troy and was relieved by Meg Willis after five innings of work. Graves only allowed one earned run and only walked one batter, but took the loss to move to 7-5 on the season.
NOTEWORTHY
• Erica Davis went 2-for-2 at the plate and scored one run and had one RBI.
• Becca Hartley leads the team with a .353 average at the plate, 35 runs, 41 hits, 13 home runs, and 34 RBIs.
• Maddie Porter has reached base in 16 consecutive games, a career high, and current team high.
UP NEXT
Troy will travel to Lafayette, La., to take on the Ragin-Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette April 8-9. Saturday's doubleheader will be played at 2 and 4, and Sunday's finale will begin at noon.
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Softball Slips to South Alabama in Series Finale
BOONE, N.C. – Katie Mathewson blasted out her first home run of the season as Appalachian State University softball fell to South Alabama in Game Three of the weekend conference series on Sunday at the Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium in Boone.
Appalachian State (12-21, 0-9 SBC) got hot late scoring three runs in the latter half of the game, but South Alabama’s (23-12, 6-7 SBC) five runs held steady as the Jaguars snatched the three-game sweep.
The Mountaineers crashed out five hits on Sunday, and Haley Stewart highlighted the offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate that included a RBI double. Also, Mathewson whaled out her seventh career home run and pounded in two RBI.
In the circle, Katie Williford (1-1) pitched 2.2 innings and registered a game-high of four strikeouts. In relief were Annaleise Kennedy and Kenzie Longanecker who pitched a combined 4.1 innings and struck out two Jaguars.
Game Three: South Alabama 5, App State 3
After holding each other scoreless in the opening inning, the Jags scored the first run of the ballgame at the top of the second on a RBI single and followed by loading the bases, but Williford left three stranded after striking out her third batter of the game.
In the following two innings, South Alabama stretched their lead to 5-0 after smacking a home run in the third and adding three more in the fourth.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Mathewson broke through blasting a two-run jack over the left field fence to cut South Alabama’s lead to 5-2.
In the top of the fifth, Longanecker entered the game and kept the conference showdown close putting the Jaguars off guard with her tough pitching to counter Appalachian’s limited offensive output.
Then at the bottom of the seventh, Stewart cut USA’s lead to two after smacking a RBI double to left field, but South Alabama held off the Appalachian's last batter to grab the conference sweep.
Up Next
App State softball will travel down to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on Western Carolina for a midweek doubleheader at 4 p.m.
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Eagles Swept by No. 17 Louisiana
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern softball team dropped the final game of the series to the No. 17 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles (15-19, 5-7 SBC) outhit the Cajuns and had an outstanding effort from relief pitcher Kierra Camp but were not able to overcome Louisiana's early offensive production, falling 6-2 in Sunday Sun Belt action.
The Ragin' Cajuns got on the board early in the first inning with a two-run homerun from senior Haley Hayden. Louisiana plated two more in both the second and third inning to extend their lead, 6-0. The Eagles responded in the fourth when senior Emily Snider led off with a double to the wall and then came around to score on an RBI from Alesha Mann. Hannah Farrell continued the rally, knocking a single up the middle to score pinch runner Haley Carter from first and cutting the deficit, 6-2.
The Eagles continued to threaten at the plate in the late innings but were not able to bring across any runs. Emily Snider and Alesha Mann both led the way offensively, each collecting two hits on the day. Morgan Robinson, Hannah Farrell and Andrea McKenzie each hit one.
Kierra Camp came in to pitch in the third inning and finished out the game. Camp shut down the Louisiana offense and threw a stellar five innings in relief, only giving up one hit to the nation's leader in both home runs and scoring. Dixie Raley (L, 9-13) started the game and was tabbed with the loss after throwing two innings.
UP NEXT:
The Eagles will travel to Columbia to face the South Carolina Gamecocks in a single game on Wednesday. The two teams are scheduled to play at 5 p.m. ET.