April 15, 2006

Western Carolina at Chattanooga - Game One

Western Carolina at Chattanooga - Game Two

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Western Carolina rallied from down 3-1 to advance its winning streak to six, tying a school-record for consecutive wins by taking game one, 5-3, of the scheduled doubleheader at Chattanooga. However, the Catamounts could not complete the seasonal sweep of the Lady Mocs, dropping the series finale, 6-2, at Frost Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the win in the first game, WCU (30-16, 9-2 SoCon) became the first team in the Southern Conference to reach the 30-win plateau. The victory also assured the Catamounts a win in their fourth-consecutive conference series. Despite the loss in game two, Western maintained its hold on first place in the SoCon standings as the College of Charleston dropped its series finale, 2-0, to Georgia Southern.

After being blanked, 5-0, on Friday night, Chattanooga (27-29, 5-7 SoCon) finally lit the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning of game one. After a single and an error put a runner on second and a walk put two on, Robyn Johnson belted a two RBI double to give UTC the 2-0 advantage. Western answered a half inning later when leading scorer, Allyson McCubbins, drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a sophomore Savannah Filley single up the middle. McCubbins was driven home by WCU RBI leader, junior Ashley Adams, on a single down the left field line to cut the Lady Moc lead in half, 2-1.

However, the Mocs stretched the lead back to two runs in the home half of the third when Ashley Cuticchia scored on an RBI single by Ashlan Clarkson to move the score to 3-1.

In the fourth, Western rallied to take the lead for good, tallying three runs on two hits in the frame to go up, 4-3. Freshman Stephanie Beatty and junior Nikki Bost drew back-to-back one out walks, followed by a single to centerfield by McCubbins to load the bases two batters later. With the bases full and two out, freshman Heather Pritchard cleared the bases by ripping a three-RBI double to right center, scoring Beatty, Bost, and McCubbins and chasing UTC starter, Jaycee Wood.

An inning later, junior Ashley Adams led off with a solo home run to left field to provide the final scoring of the contest. The blast was her 18th of the season, setting a SoCon record for homers in a single-season. According to statistics through Friday, Adams' 18 round-trippers ranks in the top four in the NCAA.

Freshman right hander Mendy McKenzie struck out seven of the 30 batters she faced and walked two with three earned runs to earn her SoCon-leading 17th victory.

In the series finale, the Lady Mocs' bat came awake as Chattanooga avoided a sweep by the SoCon leader with a 6-2 win. UTC's Ashley Frizzell picked up her 14th win of the season, striking out seven six-and-two-thirds innings.

Western Carolina got on the board first in the second game on a lead-off homerun in the second inning from pitcher Jenny Jackson. Frizzell got the next three batters out and the Lady Mocs responded with a lead-off homerun from Ashleigh Bull to start the bottom of the inning tying it up 1-1.

In the home portion of the third inning, Chattanooga's Brittney Whittier led off with a double to left center. Amanda Hoiness sacrificed her over and Jeannie Cochran singled to put runners at the corners. Cochran then stole her 24th base of the season and Ashley Cuticchia singled through the left side to plate both runners. Two batters later with a pair of runners on base, Ashlan Clarkson singled to the shortstop scoring Cuticchia from second. After the three-run outbreak, Chattanooga took a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Mocs managed two insurance runs, one in the fourth and one in the sixth, while giving up just one more to the Cats. Cuticchia went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Hoiness was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice and two RBI. Bull and Clarkson each got one hit and drove in a run.

Jackson suffered the loss for Western, allowing all six runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and one walk in five innings of work. Filley threw the final inning in scoreless relief, striking out two of the three batters she faced.

On the day, Beatty led the Catamounts going 3-for-5 (.600) with one walk, while Pritchard was 4-for-7 (.571) with two doubles and three RBI, including a perfect 3-for-3 showing in the second game. Adams was 3-for-7 with the SoCon-record 18th home run, driving in two runs.

The Catamounts step out of conference this Tuesday, April 18 when they travel to Orangeburg, S.C. for a doubleheader at South Carolina State. First pitch is slated for 1:00 pm. WCU took two from the Bulldogs in the first-ever games played at the Catamount Softball Complex back on February 19, winning 10-0 in five innings and 7-1.