March 29, 2009

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Western Carolina softball outlasted College of Charleston, 15-14, in a slugfest Sunday at Patriots Point, picking up its second Southern Conference series of the season. The Catamounts improve to 9-18 and 5-4 in the Southern Conference while the Cougars fall to 11-18 and 4-5 in the SoCon.

In the top of the eighth inning, Western Carolina broke open a 14-14 tie, to reclaim the lead for the second time in the game. With two outs, Chelsea Schaffer hit a single to right field. Sophomore Amber Hawkins laced a screamer to center field to score Scahffer, but for the second time, a Catamount runner was thrown out at third trying force a double into a triple.

With the score tied at 13, in the top of the seventh inning, Western Carolina retook the lead by one run, 14-13. Senior Mollie Fowler led off the inning with a double to centerfield. Fellow senior Lauren Ross plated Fowler, but was thrown out at third as she was tagged out trying to leg out a double into a triple. The Catamounts went quietly with outs by Brittany Barrineau and Beth Hauser to close out the inning.

College of Charleston proved it wasn't ready to concede, tying the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Katie Forbes hit a double, and Amanda Lonegran got her first it in the game at the most opportune moment, scoring Forbes to tie the game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, College of Charleston tied the game with four runs, after Western Carolina was leading 13-9. Amber Shifflett led off with a single and then with one out, Shannon Howard hit a single and Forbes hit an RBI single for the first run. Amanda Maurer got an RBI on a ground out, and the game was tied thanks to a two RBI single by Kristi Woodall.

Western Carolina got on the scoreboard early, posting two runs in the top of the first inning. Freshman shortstop Chelsea Scahffer led off with a walk, and sophomore Amber Hawkins hit a single up the middle, to put runners at first and second. With two outs, after back-to-back strikeouts by Cougar pitcher Terri Mesko, senior Lauren Ross hit a screamer up the middle to score Schaffer for the first run of the game. The Catamounts added the second run when Barrineau hit a blooper to centerfield to plate Hawkins.

The Catamounts added to its run total in the top of the second, exploding for four runs. The inning began uneventful, with a strikeout by catcher Danielle Reese, but the Western Carolina scoring frenzy began with back-to-back singles by Kerri Burnside and Schaffer. Hawkins was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Beatty knocked an RBI single to centerfield to score Burnside and then Mollie Fowler hit a laser to left field for a two RBI double that sent Schaffer and Beatty home. The Catamounts scored its fourth run of the game when a Cougar error allowed Ross to reach first and scored Fowler.

College of Charleston cut into the Catamount lead with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Catamount pitcher Chere Monday hit Kristie Shifflett to lead off and gave up a single to Howard to place runners at first and second. A two RBI double by Katie Forbes sent Kristie Shifflett and Howard home. A Catamount error put runners at the corners and Forbes scored on a sacrifice fly by Woodall.

The Cougars continued to chip away at Western Carolina's lead with two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Christal Kotchman led off with a double and scored thanks to an RBI single by Amber Shifflett. After the fourth run by the Cougars, Monday was replaced by Ross on the mound. Ross forced Kristie Shifflett to ground out to first and then got a fly out for the second out of the inning. College of Charleston got its fifth run of the game with an RBI single by Forbes, and Ross ended the inning when she caught pinch hitter Amanda Lonergran looking for her first strikeout of the game.

Ross helped her cause on the mound, in the top of the fourth inning, when she hit a one out two RBI double. Hawkins got her second single of the game to lead off, and with one out, Fowler was hit by a pitch, setting up Ross' two RBI efforts. However, Western Carolina wasn't finished on the scoring end, as the Catamounts benefitted from two walks by Cougar pitcher Mesko to load the bases. Burnside strolled to the plate and hit a base clearing double plating Ross, Hauser and Reese.

Three straight singles loaded the bases for College of Charleston to start the bottom of the fourth inning. A ground out by Kotchman allowed Maurer to score the first run of the inning for the Cougars. A two RBI triple by Amber Shifflett plated two more for the Cougars and then a fourth run went home after a Catamount miscue.

After not scoring in the fifth inning, Western Carolina posted two runs in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Hauser reached on an error and then Reese followed with a single. Kristen Gay pinch ran for Hauser and scored off an RBI single by Burnside. Schaffer followed with a single to load the bases and Hawkin's sacrifice fly to center field scored Reese for the second run of the inning.

Five Catamount players had multiple hits in the game with Schaffer, Hawkins, Fowler, Ross and Burnside each having three hits. Ross and Burnside also led the club with four RBI a piece.

On the mound, Ross picks up the win and evens her record to 6-6. She went six innings giving up nine runs on 14 hits and struck out three.

The two clubs combined for 36 hits, 18 a piece and 29 runs. The 15 runs are the most scored by the Catamounts this season.

Western Carolina returns home Wednesday to host USC Upstate. First pitch in the doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m.