May 9, 2007

Box Score

Greensboro, N.C. - The arm of Mendy McKenzie and the bat of Mollie Fowler were the deciding factors in Western Carolina softball's 2-0 victory against No. 4 seed Georgia Southern (24-31) in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday at UNCG Softball Stadium.

The No. 5 seeded Catamounts (27-32) advance to the quarterfinals against No. 8 seed UNC Greensboro at 5:00 pm Thursday evening. The Catamount Sports Network (CSN) will provide live radio coverage of the game, which can be heard locally in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee or online at www.WWCUFM.com.

Fowler, who all season has proved to be a thorn in Southern Conference team's sides, proved it again and just when it mattered the most. With two outs in a contest knotted at zero, in the top of the seventh inning, Fowler changed the complexity of the whole game with one swing of the bat. Fowler hit a rocket to straight-away centerfield and the groundskeepers at the UNCG complex are still waiting for the ball to land.

Jamie Swank continued the inning when she hit a double to right field. Danielle Reese drew a walk to place runners at first and second, which set up a coaching decision for Head Coach Christine Hornak. Did she stay with Kayla Kelley, who has seen limited time at the plate, or replace her with a pinch hitter? Hornak decided to give pinch hitter Beth Hauser a shot, and it was the right call. Hauser hit a frozen rope to centerfield to score Swank for the insurance run.

Western Carolina looked to add a third run in the inning when Georgia Southern relief pitcher Logan Free threw a wild pitch, but Reese was out on the attempted slide into home plate.

This set up a tense situation for sophomore starting pitcher McKenzie. Get three outs and she and the Catamounts would earn their first win in the Southern Conference Tournament.

Georgia Southern did look to have something cooking in its half of the seventh inning, when with one out, the Eagles placed runners at first and second thanks to a single and a Western Carolina miscue. The unflappable McKenzie calmly worked herself out of a jam by forcing Lindsey Hopkins to pop up a bunt right into her glove and Heather Smith to fly out to the centerfield to end the inning.

Though she scattered six hits in the shutout, McKenzie was brilliant in her performance against the Eagles. She recorded nine strikeouts and didn't allow a runner past second base. She improves to 12-18 on the season and becomes the first Catamount pitcher in school history to win a Southern Conference Tournament game.

Fowler was 2-for-3 in the game with a homerun, a triple, a run scored and an RBI.