April 27, 2008

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina softball won its second straight Southern Conference series and third of the season with a 6-5, come from behind victory, over Furman Sunday at the Catamount Softball Complex; after sitting through a one hour rain delay that halted the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Catamounts improve to 17-34 overall and 7-14 in the SoCon while Furman drops to 21-28 and 8-10 in the SoCon.

Furman got on the board in the first inning to start the game. Starting pitcher Lilly McDonagh overthrew a ground ball to first base allowing Katie Michaels to reach first. After McDonagh got two outs, Brythe Blankenship hit an RBI single to score Michaels.

McDonagh tossed two strong innings in the second and third picking up two strikeouts. However, in the fourth inning, Furman burnt McDonagh for three runs to take a 4-0 lead.

Western Carolina scored a run in the bottom of the fourth. Amber Hawkins led off the inning by reaching first thanks to a Furman miscue. Hawkins was erased by a fielder's choice by Stephanie Beatty after Beth Hauser lined out to the shortstop. Two consecutive Furman errors not only allowed Mollie Fowler to go all the way to second, it also plated Beatty for a Catamount run. Lauren Ross followed with a single up the middle, which pushed Fowler to third, and the Catamounts had runners on second and third with two outs after Ross stole second. However, Heather Pritchard ground out to end the inning.

McDonagh was pulled in the fifth inning and replaced by Ross. Furman reclaimed its four-run lead when Stephanie Cushing hit Ross' offering over the centerfield wall for the first homerun of the weekend series. Ross followed the Furman homerun with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to end the inning.

The bottom of the fifth was rally time for Western Carolina as the Catamounts took the lead for good. Furman replaced starting pitcher Lana Mackey with Bethany Ullrich who promptly walked Keely Torgison and Jamie Swank. When Torgison stole third Swank also advanced to second to place runners in scoring position. An illegal pitch was called on Ullrich with the count 3-2 to Danielle Resse, which gave Reese first base, sent Swank to third and scored Torgison.

Ullrich was pulled for Mackey who forced Hawkins to fly out to left field, but the sacrifice allowed Swank to score for the second run of the inning. With two outs, Beatty reached on a Furman error which moved Reese to second. Fowler singled through the left side to score Reese and Ross tied the game when she hit a double to center field to plate Beatty.

Western Carolina took the lead thanks to an RBI single by Heather Pritchard, who hadn't been in the batting line-up since an injury sidelined her after the series with UNC Greensboro on April 6. Pritchard slapped the ball past the pitcher Mackey and it squirted past the second baseman to score Fowler and give Western Carolina a 6-5 advantage.

It was then time for Ross to go to work and hold Furman. After tossing 16 innings the day before, Ross came into the game and tossed three innings to up her total to 19 innings for the weekend. After giving up the homerun to Cushing to start the fifth inning, Ross sat down the next nine Furman batters to close out the game for Western Carolina. Ross' line reads three innings, one run, one hit and two strikeouts. Ross now has 104 strikeouts this season which bests her single-season total of 102 she set last season.

Ross, Fowler and Swank each had a pair of hits in the game. Ross is also now chasing Beatty in the career RBI race as she has 77 in her career and Beatty broke the record on Saturday and now leads the club with 79.

Western Carolina hosts its final home games of the year when the Catamounts welcome Winston-Salem State Tuesday for a doubleheader at the Catamount Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

NOTE: Be sure to check out Lauren Ross' latest BLOG at the NCAA's Double-A Zone. She talks about starting the season slow but hopes for the team to finish strong.