Box Score
Box score
ANDERSON, S.C. - Junior Lacye Walker homered in the bottom of
the seventh inning to tie the score and sophomore Hannah Reppert's
walk-off, two-out single provided the winning run as third-seeded
Armstrong Atlantic State outlasted second-seeded Anderson, 7-6, in
NCAA Southeast Regional Softball Tournament action, Saturday
afternoon at Smethers Field.
Anderson slipped to 43-11 on the season and will face
sixth-seeded USC Aiken (33-15) at noon in Sunday's elimination
bracket after the Pacers blanked Georgia College, 2-0, in a contest
detoured by a five-hour rain delay. Armstrong will square off
against the winner of the Anderson/USC Aiken contest at 2:30 p.m.
on Sunday.
Senior Danielle Swygert went 2-for-4 on the afternoon, with an
RBI-single in the first inning and her 10th homer of the season in
the third inning. Junior third baseman Bri Cason added a double and
a single, while sophomore Molly Child also notched a single and a
double. Senior Abby Child posted a run-scoring double and a pair of
walks, while driving in two runs and scoring twice.
Junior Katelynn Howser (19-6) suffered the loss in the circle,
allowing seven runs - all earned - on 10 hits, while tossing her
12th complete game of the season. The right-hander walked six and
struck out one.
The Trojans garnered an early one-run lead in the top of the
first inning after Abby Child struck out swinging with two outs,
but reached base safely and wound up on third. Swygert followed by
going the opposite way with a hard line-drive single into left to
bring Child home.
Armstrong countered by taking a brief lead with a pair of runs
in the bottom of the second frame. Senior Andrea Dalton led off
with a home run for the Pirates to even the score and senior Kat
Vogler followed with a walk. Following back-to-back walks by
sophomore Heather Ellis and Kacie Patterson that loaded the bases,
junior Alexis Mercer plated Vogler with the go-ahead run on a
sacrifice fly to center. On the throw to the plate, Eliie strayed
too far off second and was thrown out in a rundown.
Anderson regained the lead in the back-and-forth battle, 3-2, with
a run in the top of the fourth frame, as senior Charlotte Sieber
reached on a fielder's choice and crossed the plate on Abby Child's
bases-loaded walk with two outs.
Armstrong answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth,
as the Pirates batted around and capitalized on three singles and a
pair of walks to claim a 5-3 lead. But the Trojans refused to go
away quietly, as AU sent nine batters to the plate as well, taking
a 6-5 edge with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Junior
Jessica Neidigh and Molly Child opened the inning with back-to-back
one-out singles, with Abby Child ripping an opposite-field double
to plate Neidigh to pull Anderson within one. The Pirates
intentionally walked Swygert to load the bases and freshman
Courtney Czentnar followed with a walk to knot the score at 5-5.
Two batters later, senior catcher Laura Jansky laced a clutch
two-out single through the left side to score Abby Child with the
go-ahead run.
The Trojans, who stranded 13 base runners on the afternoon,
threatened again in the top of the seventh with two outs. Molly
Child recorded a two-out double and Abby Child followed with a
walk, but AU was unable to push across an insurance run.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Walker evened
the score at 6-6 with her solo home run and the Pirates loaded the
bases with back-to-back two-out singles. Reppert then ended the
contest by ripping a single through the left side of the infield
top score Dalton with the winning run.