Madison Wyker/The Carolinian

By Terrence Hinds, Staff Writer

Published in print Apr. 8, 2015

The Spartan softball team had an up and down weekend against Western Carolina this past weekend.

The team, in a three game, two-day series, was able to split a doubleheader on Friday, but was unable to win the rubber match Saturday afternoon to take the series.

The team fought hard but came up just short in the end as Janelle Breneman’s squad has lost four consecutive weekend series.

In game one, Western Carolina got hits exactly when they needed to win the match 7-1.

The Catamounts were able to capitalize on timely hitting to score five of their seven runs with two outs during the contest.

With so many chances to end an inning, but giving up runs just when the team thought they were going to bat themselves, must have been a  heartbreaking experience for the Spartans.

Catamount pitcher Jordan Garrett improved to 9-10 on the season throwing five innings and only allowing one earned run off of two hits.

Freshman starter Alicia Bazonski fell to 7-7, going five innings and giving up all seven runs off of seven hits.

The lone two hits for the Spartans came from junior Danielle Vega, who hit a solo home run, and sophomore Tory Wright who had a single.

Each team traded some runs early on, as both teams were on the board by the third inning, but the game was broke opened by the Catamounts in the fourth inning.

Western Carolina went into the top of the fourth inning with a 2-1 advantage and then was able to add three runs off of two hits and two errors by UNCG. With one out, Heather Chastain and Amber Kimrey reached off back-to-back errors.

After an out, Crystal Cyr lined a two-run double to center field to give Western Carolina a 4-1 lead. Abigail Daniels earned a RBI bunt single to make it 5-1 WCU.

The game was pretty much over at this point.

The road team was then able to add a couple more insurance runs in the fifth inning to put the Spartans to bed.

In game two, an important two-run sixth inning propelled the Spartans to victory 2-1.

Junior Nicole Thomas threw a dominant complete game on the mound, only allowing one earned run off of seven hits with two strikeouts. Not only did Thomas perform well as the team’s starter, she also hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to open up the scoring for the game.

Garrett threw a valiant four scoreless inning to keep the Spartans quiet, only allowing two hits with five strikeouts for Western Carolina.

Taylor Sigmon took the loss in relief after allowing two earned runs in two innings.

After Nicole Thomas hit her solo home run, senior Dominique Madruga worked a one out walk and then was able to move to second base off of a wild pitch.

This set the stage for red shirt freshman Sidney Grkman to hit a clutch RBI single to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.

The Catamounts did not go down easy though. Crystal Cyr lined a one out solo home run to cut the lead in half, but Nicole Thomas was able to shut down the Catamounts for the win in the last inning.

In the series finale, the Blue and Gold simply could not generate any offense in the rubber game to win. WCU started the scoring in the third inning.

Crystal Cyr hit a two run home run after Karley Harkey was able to reach base on a bunt single.

The Spartans never really had a chance due to the stellar pitching of Jordan Garrett who threw a three hit shutout to secure a win for her team. Garrett had an incredible weekend throwi

ng 16 innings and only allowing one earned run.

There were a couple glimmers of hope for the home team in the third and fourth inning but nothing significant. The final inning ended in 1-2-3 fashion for the Spartans as Garrett proved to be too much for the team the entire series.

The Softball team head back on the road to face Mercer in a weekend series against Mercer in a two day, three game series beginning on Friday at 1:00 p.m.

Categories: madison wyker, Sports, terrence hinds