April 12, 2007

Box Score

ATLANTA, Ga. - Western Carolina softball (18-25) fell 7-1 to No. 24 Georgia Tech (37-13)Thursday at Glenn Field.

After two scoreless innings, Georgia Tech got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Jennifer Yee led off the inning with a double to centerfield. She moved to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Whitney Haller and scored off an RBI single by Savannah Brown. The Yellow Jackets plated their second run of the inning when Caitlin Lever hit and RBI double to score Brown.

Three hits in the top of the fifth inning equaled one run for the Catamounts. Mendy McKenzie beat out a slap hit to the pitcher to start the inning. Senior Nikki Bost followed with a frozen rope to center field to put runners at second and third. Sophomore Stephanie Beatty connected on her third hit of the game to score McKenzie and Bost was waved home to attempt to tie the game but was thrown out at home.

Georgia Tech posted three runs in bottom of the sixth inning. Haller led off the inning by drawing a walk and Brown followed with a single to left field. Caitlin Lever hit a single to left field that scored Haller and Lever moved to second off a Catamount miscue. Brittney Barnes grounded out to the shortstop Heather Pritchard and Haller scored on the play. The Yellow Jackets scored their third run of the inning on a single up the middle by Blair Schimandle which plated Lever. Stephanie Butler hit Georgia Tech's fourth hit of the inning and the Yellow Jackets attempted to score a fourth run but Schimandle was thrown out at home.

McKenzie started the game and went five innings for the Catamounts, galling to 7-13 on the season. She allowed five runs on 10 hits and struck out three.

Lauren Ross took the mound in the sixth inning. She allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one.

The Catamounts had eight hits in the game and had a base runner on in every inning of the game. Beatty was 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI and extends her hitting streak to 15 games.

Western Carolina returns to action this weekend hosting Southern Conference foe UNC-Greensboro. The Catamounts' doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the single game is at 1 p.m. Sunday. The club will honor seniors Nikki Bost and Ashley Adams between games on Saturday.