April 22, 2006

Final Stats

Greensboro, N.C. - Two Western Carolina three-run homers and costly UNC Greensboro fielding errors led the Catamounts to a 9-1 victory over the Spartans in Southern Conference softball action on a rain-filled Saturday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium.

The two were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, but storms swept across the state forcing the teams to play just one. WCU and UNCG will play a doubleheader on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm.

Western Carolina (33-16, 10-2 SoCon) maintained its grip on first place in the league by scoring three run in each of the final three innings after battling the Spartans to a scoreless tie after four complete innings. Freshman Heather Pritchard got the Catamounts on the board in the fifth with a laser shot over the fence in left centerfield for a three-run homer. Her classmate, Stephanie Beatty, opened the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second on a one-out sacrifice bunt attempt by another freshman, Samm Keppel, who eventually reached by a throwing error by UNCG. With two outs, Pritchard blasted the 0-2 pitch over the fence for her ninth home run of the season. The Hudson, N.C., native finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.

UNCG (18-31, 3-10 SoCon) got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Krista Judge to bring the Spartans to within two, 3-1.

However, Beatty launched a two-run double off the wall in left to make it 5-1 in the sixth, scoring junior Ashley Adams and freshman Lauren Ross who had each singled. Freshman Jenny Jackson capped the scoring spree with another three-run blast to left in the seventh inning to give Western the 9-1 victory. Beatty was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Ross also had two hits for the Catamounts.

Western's Mendy McKenzie cruised to her SoCon-leading 19th victory of the season, after allowing one earned run on five hits and stuck out eight Spartan hitters with two walks.

Vanessa Oakes took the loss for UNCG, falling to 9-13. She got little help from her defense as six of the nine runs allowed on the afternoon were unearned. She stuck out a game-high 10 batters, which was one of her career best.

Lyndsay Mouse had two hits for UNCG, while Judge, Kelly Allen and Vanessa Oakes each added one hit for the Spartans.

UNCG and Western will play a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 1 pm at UNCG Softball Stadium. Fans can follow all of the action through live game stats by visiting www.UNCGSpartans.com.