Sweep for softball after five-game slump

The GCSU softball team snapped a five-game losing skid this past Wednesday, sweeping a doubleheader over St. Andrews.

The Bobcats (8-12) wasted no time getting started in the opener, cranking out 12 runs and 11 hits in a run rule-shortened 12-1 victory. Three runs came across in the bottom half of the first. Freshman third baseman Kelsea Martin drew a walk and advanced to second on senior center fielder Alison Schwimer’s sacrifice bunt. Senior designated player Kayla Smith had an RBI double, and sophomore first baseman Jessica Solomon followed with a two-run single to make it a 3-0 game.

GCSU followed with five more runs in the second. Junior shortstop Brandie Monroe led off with a double, and junior right fielder Kati Pickowitz followed with a bunt single. After an RBI groundout by Martin, junior left fielder Lauren Potts smacked a three-run blast to blow the game open at 7-0. Potts now has four homers on the year to lead the team. Solomon added another RBI with a double to put the Bobcats up 8-0.

The Bobcats added four more runs in the fourth. Back to back two-out walks to freshman and junior pinch hitters Melanie Goolsby and Bailey Thompson and a single by sophomore pinch hitter Sabrina Chandler were followed by an RBI walk by Pickowitz. Martin followed with a two-run double, and Potts reached on an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 12-0.

Sophomore right-hander Haley Burnett picked up the victory for the Bobcats, allowing only one run and two hits while striking out five Knight batters. Burnett ran her record to 5-6 on the year.

“I thought we played really well today,” Bobcats coach Ginger Chaffinch said. “We hit the ball well, we got some great pitching and defense, and we executed. We’ve just got to keep getting better and keep focused.”

GCSU followed up with another five-inning win, 11-3, in the second contest. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Bobcats cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on Smith’s RBI single. The Bobcats blew the game open with eight runs in the second inning. Freshman catcher Kali Carswell led off with a single, and Monroe followed with a single of her own. After a sac bunt, Chandler’s infield single tied the game at 2-2. Martin followed with an RBI double, and Schwimer hit a run-scoring single to make the score 4-2. Potts kept things going with a two-run double, and Carswell added a two-run double. The Bobcats got their final run of the inning on an RBI single by Monroe to make it 9-2.

GCSU added two more runs in the third. Martin singled and later came around to score on a single by Smith. Solomon added a sac fly to make the score 11-2. Freshman Kristi Rodriguez got the victory for the Bobcats, going four innings and giving up a pair of runs with three strikeouts. The righty evened her record at 3-3.

“We needed these wins. We gave a good effort out there today,” Chaffinch said. “It should give us a good confidence boost going into the weekend.”

The Bobcats road woes continued last weekend. Battling snowy weather, they dropped a pair of games Thursday to No. 24 Carson-Newman. The Bobcats managed only three hits against the Eagles’ Amber Palmer in the first game in an 8-0 defeat. Burnett took the loss, going four and two thirds of an inning while allowing six runs.

The second game proved to be an exciting one, but ultimately ended in a heartbreaking 12-9 loss for GCSU. Down 7-0, the Bobcats exploded for eight runs in the top of the fifth to take over the lead at 8-7. Smith had a three-run double, while Jean-Francais had a two-run triple. Martin, Solomon and Potts all added RBI singles in the inning. After the Eagles tied the game, the Bobcats regained the lead in the seventh, when Schwimer doubled home junior pinch runner Lisa Williams to make it 9-8. The Eagles, however, put four runs on the board in the bottom half. After a game-tying double, Palmer hit a walk-off three run shot to give the home team a 12-9 win.

The Bobcats saw more misfortune on Friday, losing a pair of games to an undefeated Lincoln Memorial team. The Bobcats cut a 2-0 deficit in half in the fifth, when Smith scored on an RBI single by Monroe. Three GCSU errors in the bottom half of the sixth, however, led to five runs by the Railsplitters and a 7-1 final. Burnett took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing only three runs over five innings of work and striking out five.

The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead in the second game, when Potts hit a two-run homer in the first. After falling behind 5-2, the Bobcats got to within 5-4 on RBI doubles from Martin and Monroe in the fifth and sixth respectively. The Railsplitters responded with three runs of their own in the sixth and hung on for an 8-5 victory.

The Bobcats return to action this weekend with five games at the Mid-South Classic in Spartanburg, S.C. The Bobcats will play Carson-Newman again on Friday, Belmont Abbey and Catawba on Saturday, and Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial once again Sunday. GCSU returns home with a doubleheader against Peach Belt Conference opponent UNC Pembroke on March 9. First pitch is set for 3 p.m..

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Mar 5 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry