Western Carolina’s softball team recorded one victory against Samford during their three-game series in Cullowhee on April 18 and 19. The Catamounts fell to 11-27 and 7-11 in the Southern Conference while the Bulldogs improved to 15-24 and 8-13 in the SoCon.
The Lady Catamount split its doubleheader with Samford on Saturday April 18, winning the first game 6-3 and dropping the second game 8-4. The Catamounts hit five homeruns in the 6-3 victory over Samford. Chelsea Schaffer and Mollie Fowler each had two homeruns in the game and Amber Hawkins hit one.
Samford took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning off an RBI single by Amanda Jordan. Western Carolina answered in the top of the third, first, with a lead-off homerun by Schaffer, and with two outs, Fowler followed with the first of her two homeruns over the centerfield wall.
The Catamounts played strong defense to fend off the Bulldogs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out and Gonzalez on third, Western Carolina turned a double play to end Samford’s scoring threat.
The game was iced for Western Carolina when the club posted three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Schaffer hit her second lead-off homerun of the game to break the three all tie. Kristen Gay followed with a single over the Samford third baseman’s head. Hawkins launched the club’s fifth homerun of the game over the left centerfield wall for the two RBI homerun. Catamount lefty hurler Katie King tossed the complete game and picked up the win.
Schaffer hit safely in both games, extending her hitting streak to 14 straight. The hitting streak tied the Catamount softball school record, but that did not last long.
Schaffer’s lone hit in the game broke the school record for consecutive hits. She has currently hit safely in her last 15 games, breaking the record of 14 set by teammate Lauren Ross.
After the series, Schaffer commented on her remarkable weekend. “Breaking this record is a really great accomplishment. I was not expecting myself to break a record as a freshman. I hope we gain more support for our upcoming SoCon tournament May 6 – 9; we plan to take it all the way.”
The Bulldogs opened their first frame of the second game, posting four runs. After a scoreless second inning, Western Carolina scored four runs of its own in the top of the third inning. Schaffer led off the inning by reaching first off a Samford miscue and Gay got a single to put runners at first and second. With two outs, Fowler and Beatty had back-to-back RBI singles to pull the Catamounts within two runs, 4-2. Beth Hauser tied the game off a two RBI single to right field.
Samford took the lead back with a run in the bottom of the third and scored a run in the fourth, and a run in the fifth. Chere Monday came in relief of King in the bottom of the fifth, but after allowing one run on one hit and walking two, King came back in to get the last two outs and thwart the Bulldogs scoring more runs with bases loaded. Samford tacked on one additional run in the bottom of the sixth
Samford’s Amanda Barrs hit a two out RBI single, with the scored tied at five in the bottom of the seventh inning, to give the Bulldogs a 6-5 victory over Western Carolina softball Sunday. Katie King tossed a complete game and takes the loss. She falls to 5-13 on the year. Gay and Hauser were the only Catamounts with multiple hits, as Gay was 3-for-4 and Hauser was 2-for-4.