Augusta State Knocks Out Mars Hill In NCAA Softball Regional

HICKORY, N.C. - The Augusta State University Softball Team (40-16) was propelled by strong pitching and a two-run fifth inning as it defeated Mars Hill College (29-18),3-2, Saturday evening in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Bears Field.

With the victory, the Jaguars will face host Lenoir-Rhyne University (52-7) on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., in the tournament finals.

Mars Hill took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Rebekah Huff (Mars Hill, N.C.) led off with a double to left field and was bunted to third with one out. Ashley Seawell (Asheboro, N.C.) reached on an error by the second baseman, allowing Huff to score.

Augusta State responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame. With Leann Barber (Wrightsville, Ga.) on second base with two outs, Alyha Krier (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) hit a line drive to right centerfield, to drive in the equalizer.

The Jags got two runs in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead in the contest. After Barber doubled to right centerfield to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, she was driven home by Kristen Jones' (Plant City, Fla.) single to centerfield. Two batters later, with a runner on second base, Kacey Sims (Tallahassee, Fla.) doubled to left center plating ASU's third run of the contest.

The Lady Lions trimmed the deficit to one in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back one-out singles put runners on first and second, and a ground out by Lindsey Barrier (Salisbury, N.C.) moved them both into scoring position. Huff tallied her third hit of the game, driving in Cammie Hauser (Clemmons, N.C.) to make the score 3-2.

Huff finished the contest three-for-four at the plate for Mars Hill and had the Lions' sole RBI of the game. Augusta State's Barber was three-for-four with two doubles and two runs scored while Jones ended the night two-for-three with two RBI.

Sophomore Sara DeMuth (Plant City, Fla.) scattered eight hits over seven innings of work and struck out three while allowing just one earned run in the contest to move to 17-9 on the year for the Jaguars. Mars Hill's Tiffany Farthing (Kure Beach, N.C.) fell to 12-7 with the loss as she allowed three earned runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts in five innings of play.

QUOTES

Augusta State Head Coach Melissa Mullins:

"We're pleased with the win. I felt like the girls bounced back from a real tough loss against L-R. They came out and they were positive and upbeat. I think that's what it's about at this point. When you're in the losers' bracket you know there's a chance that you might go home so let's just have fun while you're doing it and I think that it helped us stay relaxed and come out on top."

(on going ahead in the bottom of the fifth and

"Anytime you can score runs you're pitchers are able to relax more and go with the game plan and not tense up, but it says a lot for the defense and the pitching staff to be able to get out of tough spots a couple of times. They kept their cool and composure and kept their runs down and I'm real proud of them for that."

(on facing Lenoir-Rhyne in the Regional Final Sunday):

"I think the girls are excited and pumped and I don't know that not being as rested will bother them. Maybe there was a little too much down time, who knows? You can attribute things to a lot of things. I think they'll be fine and will come out and play well. We've got to come out and play our best no matter how L-R plays we're going to have to play our best. We split with them earlier in the season so I've seen us beat them, so I know that we can we just have to come out and play our best against a very good ball team. We have a big task ahead of us but I think we're up to the challenge."

Sophomore pitcher Sara DeMuth (on her outing in the circle):

"As a staff our goal is no walks. In the first game we walked too many and hit too many and let runners get on. I'm happy that happed and our defense played well, and we played well all around. Our hitting came alive as well."

Mars Hill Head Coach David Williams:

"It was a good game. Augusta State has a good pitcher and she did a good job. I thought we did a good job at the plate and really didn't chase. They got some key hits and manufactured some runs and that was the ballgame. We were within striking distance and that's what we want to do, keep ourselves in the game and had a shot and that what we did. We played three tough games this weekend and I think we played very well in all three."

(on coming up short leaving the bases loaded in the sixth):

"When you have bases loaded and you have 3-4-5 coming to the plate you think you're going to push one across. We put the ball in play but we didn't put it in play in the right spot. We always tell our kids to put the ball in play and give themselves a chance and that's what they did so I can't be disappointed with their effort."

(on playing back to back games):

"I think there are positives and negatives in it. In tournament play every game is emotional and then there was the heat factor today. Our first game was very draining emotionally and the heat added to it and you have to turn around and play another game 40 minutes later; that was tough. Seeing a different team didn't really matter because I think we're tired of playing the same team over and over."

Senior second baseman Rebekah Huff (on the tournament and season as a whole):

"We played a good season. We played a good postseason too. I enjoyed playing with the girls, we kept the morale up and played good games and tight games and we've played good defense and the bats have come around and we've been hitting. I'm just really pleased with the way things turned out even though we did go down."

Mars Hill 7, Armstrong Atlantic State 4

HICKORY, N.C. - The Mars Hill College Softball Team (29-17) broke open a 2-2 contest with five runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat Armstrong Atlantic State University (33-20) by a 7-4 score Saturday afternoon at Bears Field in the 2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. Mars Hill will take on Augusta State University at 7:30 p.m., Saturday evening.

Mars Hill took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. After Taylor Morris (Weddington, N.C.) drew a one-out walk she was bunted over to second base and scored two batters later on a throwing error by the third baseman.

AASU tied the contest in the bottom of the third frame. With April Jowers (Columbus, Ga.) on third base with one out, Bailie Temples (Midland, Ga.) singled to centerfield scoring Jowers to knot the game at one.

The Lady Lions retook the lead in the top of the fifth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Anna James (Bellevue, Wash.) singled to left field, scoring Ashley Angell (Winston-Salem, N.C.) from third base.

Armstrong Atlantic scored the equalizing run in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on second and third, Ashley Buckett (Snellville, Ga.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Shelby Duff (Springfield, Ga.) from third base.

Mars Hill broke the game open in the top of the seventh, scoring five two-out runs to take a 7-2 lead into the final half inning of play. The Lady Lions pounded out four hits and took advantage of three walks and one Pirate error in the frame.

AASU got two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to close the gap to 7-4. The Pirates got three hits on the inning including a two -run double by Duff, but could not overcome the five-run deficit.

Mars Hill's Tara West (Urbana, Ohio) picked up the win in the circle, moving to 15-8 on the year. She scattered 10 hits and four runs over seven innings while striking out three. Megan Barnwell (Brooklet, Ga.) fell to 15-9 as the Pirates ended their season.

QUOTES

Armstrong Atlantic State Head Coach Ted Evans:

"It was just a tight-played game. We struggled to get any kind of offense. Unfortunately for us we don't hit as well against pitchers that have more movement than they do speed. Crafty pitchers give us trouble and she did a good job today. We've had some struggles pitching and when it came down there at the end it just really showed. We could have done some things better all the way around."

(on the team's mindset after tying the game in the bottom of the sixth inning):

"I think the mentality was that we were going to get them. We've had a really good hitting team this year and have been one of the best in the Peach Belt. We led the league in defense and a lot of offensive categories, so once we got back in the game we thought we had it."

Freshman right fielder Shelby Duff (on the season as a whole):

"I thought we had a very good season. It was tough to end on that one we would have liked to keep it going a little longer. We had a young team with just one senior this year so we grew a lot and will be ready next season."