Tournament Central
Armstrong 5, West Chester 1 | Final Stats | Photo Gallery | Armstrong Postgame | West Chester Postgame
Armstrong pounded out 10 hits and hit two home runs as it powered past West Chester, 5-1, in the first game of the NCAA Softball Championships at the Moyer Sports Complex.
Eight starters in the Pirates lineup recorded hits, led by two apiece from Alexis Mercer and Lacye Walker. Mercer and Haley Elllis each hit homers for Armstrong.
Olivia McLemore (25-6) surrendered one run on three hits in her seven innings of work.
West Chester’s Erin Quense accounted for the run on a solo shot in the third inning. Laura Altenburger and Kelly Anderson each added hits for the Golden Rams (41-21). Kim Murl (23-11) took the loss in the circle for West Chester giving up five runs (three earned) on 10 hits.
Quense’s solo home run in the third gave WCU an early lead, but the Pirates promptly countered in the bottom half of the inning on Hannah Reppert’s single. Armstrong added two more in the fourth on a solo shots from Mercer and Ellis. The Pirates plated single runs in the fifth and sixth while McLemore kept the West Chester offense at bay to secure the victory.
West Texas A&M 8, LIU Post 1 | Final Stats | Photo Gallery | West Texas A&M Postgame | LIU Post Postgame
West Texas A&M took advantage of five LIU Post errors in an 8-1 win over the PIoneers in the second game of the NCAA Softball Championships at the Moyer Sports Complex.
The Lady Buffs (57-7) advance to take on Armstrong tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Rita Hokianga (26-3) scattered seven hits and allowed just one run with six strikeouts and a pair of walks. Allie Cranfill had four RBI to pace the team, and Renee Erwin had a hit and scored three times. West Texass A&M also drew seven walks to help aid its offensive effort.
Paige Swantek went 2-for-3 and Aly Dzierzynski had a hit and drove in the only run for the PIoneers (50-10). Megan Salcido took the loss after giving up seven runs (two earned) on four hits with three strikeouts but six walks.
West Texas A&M grabbed an early lead after a pair of walks and two errors led to a pair of runs. The Lady Buffs then scored five unearned runs in the fourth to push its lead to 7-0. The Pioneers got one back in the top of the sixth on a Dzierzynski RBI single, but LIU Post would end up leaving the bases loaded in that inning to stall its rally.
The Lady Buffs added a run in the bottom of the sixth to cap the scoring for the afternoon.
Valdosta State 8, Wayne State 5 (9 innings) | Final Stats | Photo Gallery | Valdosta State Postgame | Wayne State Postgame
Fran Johnson hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to cap a Valdosta State come-from-behind victory over Wayne State, 8-5, in the third game of the NCAA Softball Championships at the Moyer Sports Complex.
The Blazers (46-14) had to erase a 5-2 deficit in the seventh inning to earn the victory. Valdosta State hammered out 15 hits in the game led by three from Johnson to go with four RBI. Chelsea Canara, Hannah Strickland, Morgan Butler and Heather Robinson each registered two hits for VSU.
Caitlyn Calhoun (11-4) came on in relief and pitched the final 5.1 innings giving up two unearned runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
Wayne State (46-11) got three hits from Logan White and Emily Bryce had two hits and a team-high three RBI. Lyndsay Butler had two hits and pitched all nine innings giving up eight runs on 15 hits with eight strikeouts and just one walk to slip to 25-6 on the year.
Wayne State drew blood first in the bottom of the first inning on an Emily Bryce RBI single. Each team traded solo home runs in the second inning with Canara hitting one for the Blazers and Jade McGarr hitting one for the Warriors.
The teams traded runs in the fourth, and then Wayne State added two more in the bottom of the sixth to push its lead to 5-2.
The Blazers rallied for three runs in their final at-bat to send the game into extra innings. Valdosta State’s rally was aided by a pair of Wayne State errors, and Johnson’s single to left field produced the game-tying run.
After a scoreless eighth, VSU got back-to-back singles to start the ninth and then moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. The bunt proved to be unnecessary as Johnson blasted a shot over the left field fence to make it 8-5. After getting the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Calhoun gave up a single before getting the final out of the game on a pop up to short.
Dixie State 3, Southeastern Oklahoma State 2 | Final Stats | Photo Gallery | Dixie State Postgame | Southeastern Oklahoma State Postgame
Dixie State held off Southeastern Oklahoma State, 3-2, in the final game of the first day of the NCAA Softball Championships on Thursday night.
The Red Storm (50-8) got a three-run home run from Courtney Sherwin in the third inning that stood up as the game-winner. Nicole Chavez had a pair of hits and Sheila Gelter went 3-for-4 for Dixie State.
Michelle Duncan (21-1) picked up the win lasting all seven innings giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits with a strikeout and four walks.
Haley Strawn went 2-for-3 to pace the Savage Storm (43-19) offense. Mindy McElroy (27-11) took the loss going 6.2 innings surrendering three unearned runs on seven hits.
Most of the scoring took place in the third inning as Courtney Sherwin homered to left center to drive in three runs. Southeastern Oklahoma State got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a Sydney Kramer RBI single, but Duncan was able to get out of the jam in the inning leaving two Savage Storm runners on base.
Southeastern Oklahoma State rallied in the seventh and got a run back in the top of the seventh and had the winning run on first base, but Duncan once again got out of the inning with a groundball to the shortstop to end the game.