Southern Miss
UCF
Lady Eagles Split Final Regular Season Doubleheader with UCF
5/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss stole a victory against UCF in Game One, and then let one slip away in the nightcap as the Lady Eagles split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the USM Softball Field.
In the Game One, UCF (42-18, 15-7 CUSA) got on the board first in the second inning. Hillary Barrow led off with a single back up the middle. After Southern Miss starter Samantha Davis retired the next two batters, Cat Snapp dropped a single into short right field, sending Barrow to third base. One pitch later, Davis threw a wild pitch, allowing Barrow to come home with the games first run.
After striking out seven of the first nine Lady Eagle batters, UCF pitcher Allison Kime gave up her first hit with two outs in the third inning, as sophomore Megan Hill doubled down the left field line. However, Kristin Chaney popped foul to third base, ending the inning.
Southern Miss (25-28, 9-14 CUSA) tied the game in the fourth inning. Leadoff hitter Kristin Pilgrim took the first pitch from Kime over the left center field wall, tying the game at one.
With one out in the top of the sixth, UCF first baseman Breanne Javier doubled to left field, extending her hitting streak to 13 games. But, Davis retired the next two batters, stranding Javier at third and keeping the game tied.
In the bottom half, Chaney led off with a triple that hit just inside the left field line. Pilgrim drew a four-pitch walk, and was replaced by Karissa Jones. Logan James then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Chaney with the go-ahead run.
"We gave up a run early," Southern Miss Head Coach Howard Dobson. "But Sam (Davis) did a good job of hanging on and hitting her spots. She kind of scattered six hits. When they had a chance to rally, she did a good job of pitching out of jams. Our team did a good job offensively of just hanging in there and responding."
The Lady Eagles were held to just three hits. Davis picked up the win, improving to 15-10 on the year. Kime struck out 12 in the loss.
In the nightcap, Southern Miss took advantage of a UCF error to take an early lead. With one out in the bottom of the first and Kristin Chaney on first, Kristin Pilgrim singled down the left field line, advancing Chaney to second and advancing on the throw to third.
Logan James then hit a weak ground ball to the pitcher, who threw home when Chaney broke for the plate, catching her in a run down. Third baseman Hillary Barrow forced Chaney toward home, but threw the ball to the backstop, allowing Chaney and Pilgrim to score, giving the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead after one.
The Golden Knights got one back in the third. With one out, Tiffany Lane walked. Marquita Council followed with a double, moving Lane to third with one. Breanne Javier drove her in with a sacrifice fly to center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
In the top of the fourth, Cat Snapp drew a one-out walk. Ashley Van Ryn then doubled off the right center field wall, advancing Snapp to third. Lexi Gresham hit a grounder back to the pitcher, who threw home to get Snapp. Shea Naramore then got Abby McClain to hit into a fielder's choice to get out of the inning and preserve the lead.
UCF took the lead for good in the sixth. Snapp got things going with a single up middle. Gresham and Van Ryn followed with walks to load the bases, knocking Naramore out of the game. Hannah Griffin replaced Naramore and got McClain to pop up to short for the second out. However, two pitches later, she hit Tiffany Lane, bringing in pinch-runner Morgan Bullard with the tying run. Van Ryn then scored on a wild pitch, giving the Golden Knights the lead.
Marquita Council made it a 5-2 game with a double to left center field.
The Lady Eagles rallied in last half of the seventh. Holly Milner drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two hitters later, Megan Hill beat out a grounder to third, which Barrow threw away, allowing Milner to advance to third. Milner made it 5-3 on another wild pitch. But, Chaney grounded to the pitcher, and Pilgrim struck out to end the game.
"We scored two runs early, and had a shot to get some more," said Dobson. "But we let them hang around before they tied it and took the lead. Shea (Naramore) did a good job of making her pitches. She got in a couple jams, but was able to pitch herself out of it."
Allison Kime threw 3.2 innings of relief to pick up the victory. Shea Naramore dropped to 1-3 on the year.
The Lady Eagles end the series, as well as the regular season, tomorrow at Noon (CT), before heading to Houston, Texas for the C-USA Tournament next week.
