Furman vs. WCU Boxscore

Furman vs. Mercer Boxscore

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- Mercer's Kirsten Stevens tossed a no hitter to propel the Bears into the Southern Conference Softball Championship finals with a 2-0 victory over Furman on Friday afternoon at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Bears (37-21) will face host and No. 1 seed Chattanooga in a winner-take-all final on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.  Furman, a 6-2 winner versus Western Carolina earlier in the day,, concluded its season at 31-25.

Mercer 2, Furman 0

Stevens (26-9) fanned 11 Paladins and allowed only two walks to notch her first career no hitter and lead the Bears to a 2-0 victory.  The left-hander walked Ambree Muller to open the game and Sieara Bishop with one out in the first inning, but recorded back-to-back strikeouts to retire the side.  She retired the final 20 batters she faced.

Mercer got all the offense it would need in the top of the fourth inning. Taylor Rogers and Kaylynn Sloat reached on singles and No. 9 hitter Emma Andrew lined a Lindsey Bert pitch down the left field line for a ground rule double to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.  Taylor Miller followed with a bouncer through the right side to plate the second run.

Bert, who finished the season 22-14 in the circle, gave up just the two runs on six hits in seven innings. She fanned eight batters and walked two.

Furman 6, Western Carolina 2

Furman earned a chance to take on Mercer by downing Western Carolina in an elimination game earlier in the afternoon, 6-2.

Junior Alex Sappington (7-11) limited the Catamounts to just two runs on eight hits in a complete-game effort to earn the win, while senior Ambree Muller went 3-for-5 to front an 11-hit attack by the Paladins.

Muller singled and stole second base to leadoff the game before scoring the first run on Bert's bases loaded grounder to shortstop.  After Courtney Jacobs plated an unearned run for the Paladins in the top of the fourth with a two-out single to center, Western Carolina mounted a rally.  Kara Salvo walked and scored on Heather Chastain's RBI single to slice the lead to 2-1.  Taylor Sigmon and Crystal Cyr singled to load the bases, but second baseman Taylor Jenkins snared a Amber Kimrey line drive and doubled Cyr off of first base to end the threat.

The Paladins extended the lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning and Jenkins' defense again saved the Paladins in the bottom of the frame.  The Catamounts put two runners on base with one out.  After a force out at third base for the second out of the inning, Chastain line a shot up the middle that Jenkins dove to secure for the final out of the inning to preserve the lead.

Taylor Collins belted a leadoff homer in the sixth and Furman added two more runs in the seventh on a pinch hit, RBI single from Candace Johnson and RBI single from Muller to up the lead to 6-1.  Western Carolina's Anna Hughey homered to left-center in the bottom of the seventh before Sappington shut the door on the Catamounts.

Courtney Jacobs added to Muller's three-hit day with two of her own, while Bert batted in two runs. Sigmon, Cyr and Hughey each collected two hits for the Catamounts.

Jordan Garrett, who had defeated Furman in the tournament opener on Wednesday, took the loss.  She allowed five earned runs on eight hits in six innings to fall to 16-16.

Most Outstanding Player

Anyssa Robles, Chattanooga

All-Tournament Team

Sieara Bishop, Furman

Kaylynn Sloat, Mercer

Kirsten Stevens, Mercer

Abbie Miranda, Samford

Caroline Wilder, Samford

Taylor Deason, Chattanooga

Nicole Osterman, Chattanooga

Anyssa Robles, Chattanooga

Jordan Garrett, Western Carolina

Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information