2014 SoCon Softball Championship Bracket

Senior Day Highlights And Interviews Video

Greenville, S.C. – Appalachian State's Cara Parker belted two home runs to lead the Mountaineers to a 5-3 victory over Furman in the rubber game of a three-game Southern Conference softball series and regular season finale for both teams on Sunday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.

The loss dropped the Paladins to 28-24 overall and 12-8 in SoCon play while Appalachian State improved to 19-30 overall and 7-13 in the league.  Furman finished in third place in the league standings and will face sixth-seeded Western Carolina in the opening round of the 2014 SoCon Softball Championships in Greensboro, N.C., on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m..  The Mountaineers earned the seventh seed and will face second-seeded Chattanooga.  

Parker opened the scoring by lining a two-run shot to left-center field in the top of the second inning before Lindsay Loudermilk doubled the Mountaineer lead with a two-run double in the top of the third.

Junior Ambree Muller ignited a Furman rally with a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth and scored the Paladins first run when Natalie Clemmons followed with a double to the wall in right-center.  Senior Hannah Pace, playing her final game at Pepsi Stadium, trimmed the App State lead to 4-3 just two batters later with a towering two-run blast to left field.

Appalachian's Alissa Schoelkopf came on in relief of starter Sydney Laws and retired nine of the 10 Paladins she faced to earn the save while Parker provided insurance for the Mountaineers with a solo homer down the left field line, her second of the game, in the top of the sixth inning.

Laws picked up the win after allowing three runs on five hits in four innings.  The freshman issued one walk and fanned one to improve to 6-8 in the circle.

Senior Lauren Collier suffered the loss for Furman to drop to 17-11.  The right-hander gave up four earned runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.  She walked one and struck out two.

Loudermilk and Parker each registered a pair of hits for Appalachian.  Clemmons went 2-for-2 with a walk to pace the Paladin offense.

Fans can log onto www.FurmanPaladins.com for live stats throughout the double elimination SoCon Tournament.  In-game updates will be available on Twitter by following @FurmanSoftball.