April 7, 2007

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina softball (18-24, 3-6 SoCon) was swept by Chattanooga (26-22, 7-2 SoCon) 4-2, 11-1 Saturday at Catamount Complex in the final two games of the three-game Southern Conference series. The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday when the club travels to Atlanta, Ga. to face No. 24 Georgia Tech in a single game at 4 p.m.

Western Carolina had some strong performances in game one, but still fell to Chattanooga 4-2. Junior Savannah Filley got the start on the mound and takes the loss, falling to 4-5. She went 4.1 innings allowing four runs on six hits and striking out three.

Chattanooga captured the early lead in the first inning. Jeannie Cochran led off with a single and scored when Alyssa Edwards hit a sacrifice fly to left field. The Lady Mocs tacked on the second run of the game in the second inning thanks to a homerun by Tara Tembey.

Western Carolina trimmed Chattanooga's lead to one with one swing of the bat in the second inning. Sophomore Lauren Ross hit her sixth homerun on the season when she launched a ball over the left field wall.

The Catamounts tied the game in the third inning. Nikki Bost hit a one out single and scored thanks to an RBI single by Stephanie Beatty.

Chattanooga strung together two runs in the fifth inning and it proved just enough to secure the win. Filley gave up a walk to Cochran to start the inning and she moved to second with a sacrifice bunt. Tia Blosser reached first on Filley's second walk of the inning and back-to-back RBI singles gave the Lady Mocs all the insurance runs they would need. With a runner on and one out, Filley was replaced by Mendy McKenzie on the mound and she got the last two outs of the inning.

In the sixth inning, Western Carolina got it self out of a real jam with the first triple play in school history. Chattanooga had bases loaded when McKenzie snagged a liner to the pitcher, she quickly tossed it to Beatty and third and then Beatty tossed it to first to erase the Lady Moc threat.

McKenzie finished the game tossing 2.2 scoreless innings. She allowed just two hits and struck out two batters. With the pair of strikeouts, McKenzie now has 100 strikeouts on the season.

Chattanooga put Western Carolina in a scoring hole early in the second game. The Lady Mocs scored three runs in opening frame. Ross was a bit shaky on the mound, as she had four walks in the inning, two wild pitches and walked in a run when the bases were loaded. Ross did get out of the inning with three strikeouts.

Ross found her self in a tough situation again in the second inning. She gave up a single and pair of walks to load the bases for the second consecutive inning. Head Coach Christine Hornak decided to make a change and replaced Ross with Filley with one out. Filley forced a ground out and then a strikeout to end the inning.

Western Carolina let an excellent opportunity to get on the board, in the bottom of the second inning, slip through its fingers. Ross drew a walk and Fowler hit a single to place runners at first and second. Jamie Swank hit into a fielder's choice and Ross should have been out at third but the Lady Mocs third baseman dropped the ball to load the bases with no outs. Three consecutive outs spoiled the Catamounts scoring chance.

Bost helped the Catamounts avoid a shutout. She hit her third homerun of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Chattanooga scored eight runs in the top of the sixth inning to close out the game.

Ross takes the loss in game two and falls to 7-7 on the season.