SUNDAY'S SCORES
NC State 5,
Eastern Kentucky 2
Bucknell 4,
Murray State 3 (10)
Jacksonville State 8, Campbell 1
Tennessee Tech 6, Charleston Southern 4
Charleston Southern 8,
Tennessee Tech 5
Murray State 7, Coastal Carolina 4
NC STATE 5, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team wrapped up its three-day competition at the Eagle Classic II hosted by Georgia Southern with a 5-2 loss to NC State Sunday afternoon.
The Wolfpack (7-6) capitalized on a pair of walks to lead off the second inning to jump on top of the Colonels (5-6). Maggie Hawkins scored the opening run on a wild pitch and Morgan Medford followed thanks to Alyssa Compton’s RBI single.
NC State extended its lead to 4-0 in the fourth when Hannah Yeager hit a two-out, two-run home run.
Eastern trailed 5-0 before freshman Sarah Jackson hit her second home run of the weekend, this time a two-run shot to left center field, in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Colonels put two more runners on in the fifth and one more in the sixth, but were unable to push across any more runs.
Jackson finished with two home runs and seven RBIs spanning the five games. In the circle, senior Shaylon Robb went 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA at the Eagle Classic II.
Eastern Kentucky is scheduled to be back in action this Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Miami (Ohio). Game time is set for 6 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, CAMPBELL 1
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Freshman Peyton Barthel's first career home run and a gem from sophomore Logan Green propelled the Jacksonville State softball team to an 8-1 win over Campbell on Sunday.
Barthel's pinch-hit, three-run homer in the fourth inning broke the game open while Green cruised in the circle to cap a 3-2 weekend for the Gamecocks (9-6) at the Citrus Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The win was JSU's second in two days over the Camels, who entered the weekend with just two total losses.
Green (4-1) scattered three hits and allowed just an unearned run in her complete game win. She struck out five batters and didn't issue a walk in a game that saw her storm out of the gates by retiring the first 11 and 15 of the first 16 batters she faced.
Sophomore Stephanie Lewis drove in a air of runs for the Gamecocks, while senior Savannah Sloan went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored twice in the win. Sophomore Taylor Sloan and freshman Jordan Bullock each went 2-for-3 on a day that saw JSU rattle off 11 hits against the Camels.
Courtney Roberts suffered the loss for Campbell after surrendering six runs on eight hits in four innings of work. Julia Calicutt tossed the final two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.
JSU got on the board in the second with back-to-back RBI doubles from Taylor Sloan and Lewis, then a sac fly from Lewis in the fourth set up Barthel's big blast. The freshman from Decatur, Ala., took Roberts over the wall in left to make it a 6-0 JSU advantage.
A bases loaded walk to junior Ella Denes and a pitch that hit pinch hitter Leila Chambers added the final two runs in the sixth, and Green closed the door with a perfect seventh inning.
The win came a day after JSU handed Campbell a 6-2 defeat behind freshman Whitney Gillespie's complete game and a two-hit game from Emily Woodruff, Gillespie and Savannah and Taylor Sloan.
JSU dropped Saturday's nightcap to Elon, 1-0, despite a complete game, 14-strikeout performance from sophomore Taylor West.
JSU returns home to open its home schedule on Wednesday against No. 3 Alabama at University Field.
TENNESSEE TECH 6, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 4; CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 8, TENNESSEE TECH 5
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Tennessee Tech softball team heads back to Cookeville having taken three out of four in the Charleston Southern Tournament, splitting with the host on Sunday to wrap up its weekend stay. TTU scored late in the opener with the Buccaneers (9-4) to seize the first game, 6-4, before CSU bounced back to notch a win in the second tilt, 8-5.
A barrage of late inning fireworks paced the Golden Eagles (6-7) in the opener, as Tech struck for three in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the seventh to capture the contest. In fact, after scoring four in the fifth of the second game, the Golden Eagles ended up scoring a combined 17 runs in the final three frames throughout the course of the weekend.
Trailing 1-0 behind a Stevi Johnson solo home run in the bottom of the second, the TTU offense ignited in the top of the fifth thanks to a power outage of its own. A Sabrie Neeb walk, an Angi Sakamoto sacrifice bunt, and a Madison Taylor RBI single tied up the game at 1-1, before Olivia Bennett clubbed a go-ahead two-run home run over the center-field wall to give the Golden Eagles a 3-1 edge.
Bennett continues to flex her offensive muscles in the early stages of the season, leading Tech with five round trippers and nine RBI over the first 13 games, after wrapping up Sunday's opener going 2-for-4 with two runs driven in.
An inning later, the Golden Eagles padded their lead with a two-spot, capitalizing on a promising start to the frame. Sophomore Kelly Kennedy began the inning with a single to center, before the Plainfield, Ill. native would be lifted for sophomore Gabby Perez as a pinch runner. Senior Hannah Eldridge would then reach on a CSU error to put runners on first and second, which was followed by a Christian Gibbs groundout that moved Perez to third and Eldridge to second.
A Sabrie Neeb run-scoring sacrifice bunt pushed Perez around with the first run of the inning, before a two-out RBI single to left off the bat of Angi Sakamoto gave the Golden Eagles a 5-1 cushion heading into the bottom of the sixth.
The lead appeared to be in good hands with the way sophomore Danielle Liberatore (3-4) had been pitching as the 5-foot-10 southpaw had given up just one hit following the Stevi Johnson second-inning long ball, a one-out fifth inning bunt single by sophomore Amanda Matsumoto. Liberatore fell into rare trouble though, as the Buccaneers loaded the bases with one out on a Cheyenne Gandara walk, a Stevi Johnson single to center, and a Brooke Lein base on balls.
With the bases juiced, pinch-hitter Stephanie Baro gave Charleston Southern some late life with a sacrifice fly that brought around Gandara to cut the deficit to 5-2, before a Natalie Yonan RBI single down the right field line made the count 5-3, chasing Liberaotre in the process.
CSU added a final run in the frame on consecutive walks by Amanda Matsumoto and sophomore Brook Richardson, with Richardson's free pass brining around Brooke Lein to chop the Tech lead to 5-4. TTU head coach Bonnie Bynum made her second pitching change of the inning, lifting freshman Taylor Waldrop in favor of junior Hannah Weaver, who proceeded to strike out senior Marci Christian to end further damage.
With the Golden Eagles leading 5-4 heading into the top of the seventh, sophomore Alyssa Richards smacked her second home run of the season to give Tech a 6-4 advantage, before Weaver pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh to notch her first collegiate save, pushing the Golden Eagles to their fourth-straight win as well.
Danielle Liberatore won her second straight after tossing five and two-thirds of four-run ball, yielding five hits, and striking out eight in the process to move her record to 3-4. Cheyenne Gandara suffered the loss, going the distance and giving up six runs (four earned) on eight hits.
Offensively, Tech's top of the order came up big as the first four hitters Angi Sakamoto, Madison Taylor, Olivia Bennett, and Alyssa Richards combined to go 6-for-13 with two home runs, five RBI, and three runs scored.
Charleston Southern got hot with the bats in the second game, scoring in five of the six innings, including three in the bottom of the sixth to break a 5-5 deadlock to move ahead 8-5.
The Bucs plated one in the second, one in the third, and two more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead after Tech scored on a Hannah Eldridge RBI single in the top of the third. The Golden Eagles would go on to explode for four in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 edge, using a Callen Griffin RBI double, a second Hannah Eldridge run-scoring single, and a two-run Bayli Cruse home run, the first of the freshman's collegiate career.
Griffin's two-bagger was the second of the game for the freshman infielder, joining Eldridge as the two Tech players with multi-hit affairs.
CSU responded to the club's first deficit of the game, tying things up in the bottom of the fifth on a Stephanie Baro single and a Tech error that allowed sophomore Brittany McPherson to score from second.
The Buccaneers took the lead for good in the last of the sixth, using a Marci Christian two-out three-run home run to propel them to the win. Christian's long ball was the Arvonia, Va. native's second of the contest after the senior broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a solo shot.
Senior Erica Tuck (0-1) registered her first loss of the year after giving up the gopher ball to Christian in the sixth. The 5-foot-9 righty came on for Tech starter Hannah Weaver in the fourth, and ended up lasting two and a third, surrendering four runs (three earned) on four hits.
Charleston Southern senior Jennifer Giles (3-1) notched the win, despite allowing five runs, eight hits, and six walks in the contest. Game one loser Cheyenne Gandara came on to pitch a scoreless seventh to earn her first save of the season.
The Golden Eagles continue a string of four-straight tournaments to begin the 2015 campaign, taking aim in the Frost Classic hosted by Chattanooga, Feb, 27-Mar. 1. Tech will clash with No. 6 Kentucky and Ohio on Friday, South Dakota State and Alabama A&M on Saturday, and Purdue on Sunday.
BUCKNELL 4, MURRAY STATE 3; MURRAY STATE 7, COASTAL CAROLINA 4
CONWAY, S.C. - The Murray State softball team bounced back from a 4-3, 10-inning loss Bucknell, to earn a 7-4 victory over the host Chanticleers Sunday as part of day two of the 2015 Chanticleer Showdown hosted by Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina.
Game 1 – Bucknell 4, Murray St. 3 (10 Inn.)
Bucknell (7-5) got things started in the second when Meghan Kovac singled in the bottom of the second. Cheyanna Young would bring Kovac home later in the frame with a single of her own to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.
After a bunt single by Amanda Fazio in the third, Bucknell pushed the lead to 3-0 on a home run by Kristen Zahn. From there it appeared to smooth sailing for the Bison as pitcher Dana Nielsen retired the first 13 batters of the game and appeared headed towards a perfect game.
However, Maggie Glass had other ideas, as she made Murray State’s first hit of the game count in a big way with solo shot to left, cutting into the BU lead at 3-1. After a single by Jessica Twaddle in the seventh, Glass did it again, going yard to tie the game at three. She is now the ninth player in MSU history to have accomplished the feat joining current Racers Twaddle, Shelbey Miller, Alexa Becker and Mallory Richardson in the elite club.
Defense played a big part in getting the Racers (7-5) to extras in the game as they turned two double plays in the contest at key times, pushing their season total to 13 in 12 games. The first game with runners on second and third in the fifth, with Miller, Glass and Jocelynn Rodgers combining to gun down both runners at home plate. The second came in the eighth when MSU turned a second double play to end the inning and move the game to the ninth.
Despite the international tie-breaker rule being in effect neither team was able to push runs across in the added frames. With the score still tied at three and two outs on the board in the bottom of the 10th, the Racers appeared to be heading towards an 11th inning. However, Bucknell was able to pull out the win when Twaddle’s foot was pulled off the bag on a routine ground ball to Becker, allowing Chaylen Andolino to score on the error from third.
Glass finished the day at 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, while Twaddle was 1-for-3 with a run. CheyAnne Gaskey went the full 9.2 innings for MSU, slowing three earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Game 2 – Murray State 7, Coastal Carolina 4
The Chanticleers (7-6) were first on the board in the contest when Bri Chuisano, who reached on a walk, was scored on a double from Kiana Quolas that gave her team a 1-0 lead. Coastal Carolina did not enjoy the lead for long, as Erica Howard launched the second long ball of her career in the second to give MSU (8-5) a 3-1 lead.
Shelbey Miller and Alexa Becker helped push the lead to 6-1 with a solo homerun and two-run home run in the fifth and sixth, respectively. Later in the inning, Mo Ramsey scored to cap the Murray State scoring at seven on an RBI-double from Twaddle. The Chanticleers added three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough as Murray State was able to turn its 13th double play of the season to end the game.
Mason Robinson moved to 5-0 with the complete game victory, allowing just three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts. Howard ended her day at 2-for-3 with two runs, three RBIs and a walk, while Cayla Levins and Twaddle each added two hits as well.
Following the tournament, Becker and Maggie Glass were named to the All-Tournament team. Glass hit .364 with two runs, a double, two home runs, four walks and four RBIs, while Becker hit .357 with four runs, a double, three home runs, two walks and eight RBIs.
Next weekend, the Racers will travel to Knoxville for the Tennessee Classic. While in the Smokies, MSU will take on Bradley, Furman and the host Lady Vols.