No. 4 Samford 7, No. 6 Western Carolina 3
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Keeping with the no-upset theme of this year’s Southern Conference Softball Championships, No. 4 Samford defeated No. 6 Western Carolina 7-3 Thursday night at UNCG Softball Stadium.
Bulldogs’ ace Mollie Hanson picked up her second win of the tournament by tossing a five-hit, seven-strikeout contest to send the Catamounts home. The Samford offense needed just the third inning to get a jump on scoring.
Four hits and an error in the second frame led to six runs for the ‘Dogs – nearly tying their hit total from their previous game (five hits against Georgia Southern). Hannah Taylor was hit by a pitch to lead off and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Caroline Seay singled to board a second runner and Abbie Miranda was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
A Megan Dowdy single scored the Bulldogs’ first run and fielding error during the play allowed a second run to cross. After a second RBI-single plated a third run, the scoring was capped off by a three-run homer to right off the bat of cleanup-hitter Caitlin Bice.
Down by six, Western Carolina rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the second to cut the lead in half. With two outs on the board and runners on the corners, Whitney Haywood delivered with a single to left to drive in Heather Chastain from third. Leadoff hitter Amelia Griffin laced a liner down the line in left and motored to third for a two-RBI triple, scoring both Haywood and Makenzi McAteer.
Despite coming alive in the second, the Catamounts were held to just one hit for the remainder of the game. Hanson went on to strike out three and keep Western Carolina scoreless for five frames.
Samford advances to the semifinals and faces No. 2 Chattanooga Friday at 10 a.m.
No. 5 UNCG 4, No. 3 Furman 3
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The Southern Conference Softball Championships saw its first upset early Friday morning as No. 5 UNCG scored a 4-3 walk-off win in the eighth inning over No. 3 Furman at 12:48 a.m.
Spartans’ ace Raeanne Hanks picked up the win in relief after starter Nicole Thomas ran into trouble early in the second inning. Furman picked up two hits and two runs on Thomas, taking a 2-0 advantage. Andrea Abbatiello smashed a two-run homerun to draw first blood.
UNCG rallied back to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth in a three-run spark led by a Katelyn Bedwell double to begin the inning. Danielle Vega singled to left to plate the Spartans’ first run and a pinch-hit double to left center from Hagan Kiser garnered the second and third runs.
Furman tied the game in the sixth on a wild pitch and forced extra innings by holding the Spartans scoreless in the sixth and seventh.
The fourth inning was Furman starter Lauren Collier’s only hiccup until reaching the eighth inning. Catcher Lindsay Thomas got the ball rolling with a single to right before Bedwell tripled home the two-spot hitter.
UNCG moves on to face No. 1 Georgia Southern at 12:30 p.m. Friday afternoon and serves as the home team, and Furman is eliminated from the tournament.
