May 7, 2006

Final Stats

Statesboro, Ga. - Georgia Southern sophomore Melissa Laliberte tossed a four-hit shutout, her second in as many days, to guide the Eagles to a 2-0 win over Western Carolina Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field. The defeat handed Western its first Southern Conference series loss on the season. Western, who clinched the top seed in the SoCon Championships by winning the regular season championship in its inaugural season, will play UNC Greensboro on Wednesday at Noon in the opening round in Chattanooga.

Western drops to 41-18 and 16-4 in the SoCon while the Eagles improve to 28-32, 12-9.

Georgia Southern manufactured its first run in the third inning when senior Shanita Black reached on a one-out infield single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Junior Heather Smith was intentionally walked to get to senior Gina Sterchi who hit a single through the left side of the infield to score Black.

A two-out rally by the Eagles in the fifth doubled their lead to 2-0. Smith tripled to left and scored on a single by senior Sam Steiner.

Unlike Saturday's contest which saw Laliberte walk seven and pitch out of trouble in almost every inning, she walked just two allowed four hits for her fifth shutout of the season. Laliberte held the conference's top hitting team, WCU, to seven hits in two games.

Laliberte was bailed out by her defense in the sixth to hold on to the shutout. Freshman Allyson McCubbins walked to lead off the inning, but failed to advance on the next two batters. Junior Ashley Adams singled to put runners on first and second, bringing up freshman Jenny Jackson, who also earned the starting nod on the hill. Jackson hit a shot to left, but was denied by junior Aurora Johnson whose leaping catch ended the inning.

Western's four hits in the game were scattered among four different individuals as Adams, junior Nikki Bost, and freshmen Stephanie Beatty and Samm Keppel each recorded hits. Adams was the only Catamount to be on board more than once, also drawing a walk in a team-best 1-for-2 showing at the plate.

Jackson took the loss for the Catamounts, to drop her record to 15-5. She allowed 10 hits and two earned runs with no strikeouts and the one intentional walk.

Western Carolina concludes the regular season as the all-time home run leader in Southern Conference history, belting 81 round-trippers as a team. Adams is the SoCon single-season home run champion with 21 homers.

First round action from the SoCon Championships will commence on Wednesday from Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. The top-seeded Catamounts will face the eighth-seeded UNC Greensboro Spartans, whom WCU swept earlier this season in Greensboro. Each game the Catamounts play in postseason will be carried live on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee, or on-line at www.WWCUFM.com. Daniel Hooker and Josh Thompson of the Catamount Sports Network will have the call for WCU's first-ever trip to the SoCon tournament.