April 12, 2008

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Freshman Katie Boyd went 5-of-8 with three extra base hits and five RBI to lead Appalachian State to a pair of extra-inning victories over Furman in Southern Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. The Mountaineers took game one 6-4 before claiming the nightcap 2-1.

Appalachian State improved to 7-23 overall and 5-4 in league play while Furman slipped to 17-21 overall and 6-5 in the SoCon.

Trailing 4-0 entering the fifth inning of game one, Boyd led Appalachian's rally. Natalie Willis opened the inning with a bunt single. After a sacrifice, Sarah Rappe reached on a single to give the Mountaineers runners at first and second. Boyd followed with a double to left-center to plate two runs and scored two batters later on Meagan Squartino's groundout.

Leading off the top of the seventh, Boyd knotted the game at 4-4 hammering a Lana Mackey pitch over the left-center field fence to become ASU's all-time home run leader. With a runner on second and two outs in the eighth, Andrea McIntyre reached on a single and Rappe followed with a single to drive in Tiffany Hensley. Boyd capped the scoring lining an RBI single to center after fouling a pitch off her face just moments before.

Junior Teri Fister (1-4) worked 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and surrendered just two hits to earn the victory. Boyd finished 4-for-4 with a double, homer and four RBI at the plate.

Mackey suffered the loss in the circle allowing six earned runs on 12 hits in eight innings. Katie Michaels went 3-for-4 at the plate while Stephanie Cushing batted in two runs.

In game two, Appalachian State broke open a scoreless game with two runs in the top of the ninth and held off a Paladin rally in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 victory.

Kayla Richardson (4-11) limited Furman to one run on six hits in nine innings while walking five batters and fanning two. The Mountaineers finally broke through in the ninth as Rappe opened the frame with a base on balls and scored on Boyd's triple to center field. Stephanie Long delivered a two-out single to right field to plate pinch runner Kristen Fister and extend the lead to 2-0.

Furman's Morgan Hughey opened the bottom of the ninth with a double to left and moved to third when Mackey reached first on an error. Kate Termini, the third Paladin batter of the inning, was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Bethany Ullrich followed with a sacrifice fly to score Hughey and put the Paladins on the board and Michaels reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Meredith Mielke sent a fly ball to center, but Mackey had drifted too far away from the third base bag to attempt to tag up and score. With Cushing at the plate, Richardson unleashed a wild pitch to the backstop but Mackey was called out on a controversial play at the plate to end the game.

Mackey (12-17) suffered her second loss of the day allowing two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. Ullrich, the Furman starter, worked 7 1/3 scoreless innings receiving no decision. Michaels collected three hits for the second straight game to lead Furman's offense. Long went 3-for-4 to pace ASU.

Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. at Pepsi Stadium. The Paladins will welcome a group of girls from Big Brothers Big Sisters in Spartanburg and Greenville who will take the field with the team prior to the start of the series finale. The Paladin players conducted a clinic for the group last season.