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Western Carolina
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Schedule

Full
Huddle
1
Western Carolina WCU 26-25
3
Winner UNC Greensboro UNCG 33-15
Western Carolina WCU
26-25
1
Final
3
UNC Greensboro UNCG
33-15
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Western Carolina WCU 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1
UNC Greensboro UNCG 0 1 0 1 1 0 X 3 7 1

W: Morgan Scott (19-8) L: Rice, Savannah (11-11)

1
Mercer MER 24-23
4
Winner Western Carolina WCU 27-25
Mercer MER
24-23
1
Final
4
Western Carolina WCU
27-25
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mercer MER 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 0
Western Carolina WCU 0 0 2 0 0 2 X 4 7 0

W: Eilers, Jayme (14-12) L: Ashlyn Donner (9-8)

Game Recap: Softball | | Denise Gideon, Director of Media Relations

Catamount Softball Advances to the SoCon Championship Game

Faces No. 1 Seed UNCG

The Basics 
Score: UNCG 3, Western Carolina 1; Western Carolina 4, Mercer 1
Records: Western Carolina 27-25, UNCG 33-15, Mercer
Location: Greensboro, N.C., UNCG Softball Stadium24-23
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Western Carolina softball battled back from the elimination bracket, defeating No. 4 seed Mercer 4-1, to earn a spot in the 2021 Southern Conference Softball Championship game for the first time in program history. The Catamounts will face No. 1 UNCG at 1 p.m. Saturday at the UNCG Softball Stadium. 
 
Western Carolina dropped the first game of the day 3-1 to the Spartans in the semi-final winners bracket. 
 
With the relaxed COVID-19 guidelines announced by the CDC and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper today, there will not be a pass list for the championship game and tickets will be given on a first come first serve basis. 
 

Western Carolina 4, Mercer 1
 
Turning Point 
Western Carolina used timely hitting and rode the arm of sophomore hurler Jayme Eilers to the victory. 
 
How it Happened 
  • The Catamounts turned back Mercer in the top of the second with one of the Bear's best scoring chances. With bases loaded, Eilers struck out Tori Ash for the final out of the inning.
  • Western Carolina converted the big Eilers out into the momentum-swinging bottom half of the third inning. Freshman Savannah Baldwin worked a walk after seeing 12 pitches from Bear pitcher Ashlyn Donner. Baldwin stole second and scored the first run of the game on an RBI double by senior Addie Pate. After Claudia Riddle was hit by a pitch and Bailey Huneycutt drew a walk to load the bases, senior Kailey McNeil hit a sacrifice fly RBI to the right field scoring Pate for the second run of the inning. 
  • The bottom of the sixth inning saw the Catamounts score two insurance runs. Twitty led off the inning with a single to center field. Pinch-runner Morgan Maddaluna was erased on the Jeralynn Wells fielder's choice and Wells moved to second when Lindsay Perillo singled up the middle. Baldwin drew her second walk of the game to load the bases. Mercer relief pitcher Madi Joice walked Pate, as she picked up her second RBI of the contest, and Wells walked home. With one out, Riley Lambert hit a groundout RBI scoring Perillo.
  • Mercer attempted a rally in the top of the sixth and messed up Eilers shutout in the process. Elisa Rosado led off the inning with a single and with two outs Micayla Rood knocked an RBI double scoring Rosado for the Bears only run in the game. 
  • Eilers put the exclamation point on the game when she struck out Madison Headley to end the game. 
 
 Inside the Box Score 
  • Eilers, a first-team all-conference pitcher, tossed her second complete game in the SoCon Championship giving up one run on five hits and striking out eight. She improves to 14-12 on the season.
  • The Catamounts had five hits in the game.
  • Pate was 1-for-2 with one run scored and two RBI. 
  • No one on the Catamounts struck out in the game. 
 

UNCG 3, Western Carolina 1
 
Turning Point 
UNCG scored runs in the second, fourth and fifth and holding WCU to one run.
 
How it Happened 
  • The Spartans had an RBI single in the second inning and solo home runs in the fourth and fifth.
  • Western Carolina avoided the shutout with a solo two-out home run by Myra Twitty. 
 
 Inside the Box Score 
  • Sophomore hurler Savannah Rice got the starting nod in her first-ever SoCon Championship. She takes the loss falling to 11 on the year allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out five. 
  • Senior catcher Kailey McNeil and Twitty had the two hits for the Catamounts. 
  • The home run by Twitty is the first long ball to a conference opponent UNCG has allowed at home this season. 
 
News & Notes 
  • In 14 innings of work in the SoCon Championship, Eilers has given up just one hit, seven hits, and struck out 15 with a 2-0 record. 
  • The Catamounts have won three of its last four meetings against Mercer. 
  • The win over Mercer, in the elimination game, is the first time in program history the Catamounts have defeated the bears in a SoCon Championship game. 
  • The Catamounts made their fourth appearance all-time in a semi-final game when WCU met UNCG to open day two of the championship. 
  • Eilers has 171 strikeouts this season which ranks her in sixth place in the WCU record books. She needs two strikeouts to move into fifth place. For her career, Eilers has 194 which ranks seventh in the WCU record book. 
 
 Up Next 
Western Carolina faces No. 1 seed UNCG in the 2021 SoCon Championship at 1 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 
 
 For the latest information on Catamount softball, follow @catamounts and @catamountsb on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com.
 
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