March 13, 2012

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. -Western Carolina softball (9-13) dropped its home opener doubleheader to USC Upstate (22-4), who is receiving votes in the NFCA Top 25, 6-2, 8-5 Tuesday at the Catamount Softball Complex.

Freshman catcher Heather Chastainhad a nice outing in the pair of games, going 3-for-5 and pushing across two RBI, registering one RBI in each game. The Catamounts got back on the homerun wagon, with three homeruns in the second game. Prior to the three long balls, the Catamounts had not hit a homerun since hitting a pair against Rhode Island on March 2.

In the first game, USC Upstate scored a run in the first, a homerun by Shellie Robinson, to get on the scoreboard. The Spartans tacked on a single run in the top of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Western Carolina tied the game, in the bottom of the second inning, which would be the closest the Catamounts would get in the game. Junior Shemekia Scotton drew a lead-off walk and then moved to second on a ground out by Kelly Braman. Haley Pace laid down beauty of a hit that popped just over the Spartan first baseman's head as she was playing in, to put runners at the corners for WCU. The Catamounts scored its first run of the inning on a ground out RBI by Robyn Burnette, which sent Scotton home. Chastain tied the game for the Catamounts when she hit an RBI single to right field to score Pace.

After a solid second inning, Western Carolina was held scoreless in the ensuing five innings. USC Upstate starting pitcher Hannah Alexander allowed just three hits and two Catamount runs.

The Spartans peppered four more runs over the course of the final five innings to take the win. USCU took the lead with a pair of runs in the third inning and single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. USC Upstate scored in all but two innings in the game.

Starting Catamount pitcher Jordan Garrett went five innings giving up six runs on nine hits and had two strikeouts. She took the loss and fell to 5-6 on the season. Amber Steinhardtcame into the game in the sixth inning after Garrett got into a bit of a jam, with runners on first and second and nobody out. Steinhardt got a pair of groundouts and a fly out to end the inning, though one of the groundouts resulted in a run. Steinhardt went two innings, giving up just one hit.

Steinhardt got the start in the second game against USC Upstate. She tossed a scoreless first inning before giving up a run in the top of the second.

Trailing 1-0, Western Carolina took its only lead of the game off of one swing of the bat. With one out, Braman singled through the left side, to put the tying run on first. Steinhardt hit her first homerun of the season, in her first at bat of the year, giving WCU a 2-1 lead.

USC Upstate answered back with a vengeance as Steinhardt ran into a Spartan buzz saw in the top of the third. The Spartans exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning.

Steinhardt exited the game having pitched 2.2 innings allowing seven runs, three earned, on nine hits and struck out one. She drops to 2-2 on the season. In a reversal from the first game, Garrett came in relief of Steinhardt with two outs in the third inning. Garrett finished the game going 4.1 innings allowing four hits and one run.

USC Upstate added one more run in the top of the fourth and was held scoreless by Garrett for the final three innings. Western Carolina did chip away at the USC Upstate lead a bit. In the bottom of the fourth inning Chastain recorded her second RBI of the doubleheader with an RBI single scoring Scotton.

The last two runs scored by Western Carolina were solo homeruns. Erin Foster hit her fifth homerun of the season hit, a shot over the right field wall. In the top of the seventh, pinch hitter Makenzi McAteerhit a homerun to center field, the first homerun of her career.

Four of Western Carolina's five runs, in the second game, were scored off homeruns. Western Carolina opens Southern Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Georgia Southern. The series begins Saturday March 17 with a double header slated to begin at 1 p.m. in Statesboro, Ga.