GREENVILLE, N.C. – Eileen Horsmon turned in her first career multi-home run game and UNCG hammered out 11 hits and took advantage of five Fordham errors to take a 12-7 win over the Rams on Friday, the first day of East Carolina's Pirate Clash. The Spartans fell to the host Pirates in the nightcap, 2-1.
Horsmon went 4-for-4 with four RBI and three runs against Fordham to spark the Spartans (1-6), who scored in each of the first four innings against the defending Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season and tournament champions. Fordham (1-1) opened its season with a 2-1 win over Virginia earlier in the day.
UNCG's offense was in gear from the get-go, as the Spartans had a pair of hits and scored pair of runs in the first inning on a Fordham error and Katelyn Bedwell's sacrifice fly.
The Rams tied it in the bottom half on a Paige Ortiz RBI single and Brianna Turgeon's bases-loaded walk, but UNCG would go ahead to stay the following inning.
Sophomore Ashley Reetz got the scoring started with an RBI triple, and Toni MacReynolds followed with a single to score Reetz. Kiah Ruffin's single kept the rally going, and two outs later, Horsmon ripped a two-run double to right center. She would later score on another Fordham error.
The Spartans added three unearned runs in the third on a pair of Fordham errors and Aisha Figueroa's sacrifice fly before the Rams got a run back on a UNCG error in the bottom half.
After Horsmon led off the fourth with her third home run of the season and Bedwell was hit by a pitch, Fordham went to its All-American, pitcher Jen Mineau, to stop the bleeding. Mineau did her job, limiting the Spartans to just one hit the rest of the way – Horsmon's solo homer in the sixth inning.
Fordham got a two-run homer from Jo Krasnisky in the bottom of the seventh to cap the scoring.
MacReynolds and Heather Robb had two hits each for UNCG, which scored more runs in the contest than it did in five games last weekend (10).
Cory Mattson (1-2) picked up the win despite allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and seven walks in six innings of relief. Josie Felix worked the first inning for the Spartans, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk.
Taylor Pirone (0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. Michelle Daubman surrendered four runs (one earned) on three hits in 1 1/3 innings, while Mineau allowed a run on one hit and struck out eight in four innings.
Horsmon's two homers give her four on the season, surpassing her total from all of last year (three) in just six games. Friday's outburst marked the second time in her career she had multiple homers on the same day, as she hit round-trippers in both games of a doubleheader against Furman on March 26 of last season.
Horsmon also pushed her career home run total to 13, moving her into a tie for 10th place in school history with Leslie Furness (2006-09).
UNCG's second game of the day stood in stark contrast to its first, as the Pirates escaped with a 2-1 win in contest in which runs were at a premium.
ECU (4-2) threatened often in the contest but couldn't push across a run until the sixth inning, when Suzanne Riggs hit a two-run homer out to center field to rally the Pirates past UNCG.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, when Alex Emeterio reached on a two-base error and came in on a Bedwell single.
Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, UNCG got something going when Dominique Madruga singled with one out. ECU pitcher Sarah Christian induced a lineout double play to end the game, however.
Emeterio, a senior making her first-ever collegiate start in right field, gunned down a runner at the plate to keep the game scoreless early, hosing Jill Jelnick to end the third.
Bedwell threw out Jordan Lewis trying to steal second to end the second inning.
Erica Navarette (0-3) took the loss for UNCG, allowing two runs and scattering nine hits and three walks. Christian (3-0) picked up the win, allowing only an unearned run on four hits.
Emeterio was 2-for-3 with a run scored and reached base in all three of her plate appearances. Riggs was 2-for-3 to lead ECU.
The Spartans resume play at the Pirate Clash with a contest against No. 21 Louisville on Saturday at 11 a.m.
AGATE
UNCG 12, Fordham 7 (Feb 17, 2012 at Greenville, N.C.)
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UNCG................ 253 101 0 - 12 11 1 (1-5)
Fordham............. 221 000 2 - 7 8 5 (1-1)
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Pitchers: UNCG - Josie Felix; Cory Mattson(2) and Katelyn Bedwell. Fordham - Taylor Pirone;
Michelle Daubman(2); Jen Mineau(4) and Gabby Luety.
Win-Cory Mattson(1-2) Loss-Taylor Pirone(0-1) T-2:32 A-323
HR UNCG - Eileen Horsmon 2 (4).
HR FOR - Jo Krasnisky (1).
Weather: 55 Degrees, Partly Sunny
Daubman faced 2 batters in the 4th.
East Carolina 2, UNCG 1 (Feb 17, 2012 at Greenville, N.C.)
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East Carolina....... 000 002 0 - 2 9 1 (4-2)
UNCG................ 000 100 0 - 1 4 1 (1-6)
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Pitchers: East Carolina - Sarah Christian and Rebecca Lee. UNCG - Erica Navarette and
Katelyn Bedwell.
Win-Sarah Christian(3-0) Loss-Erica Navarette(0-3) T-1:52 A-357
HR ECU - Suzanne Riggs (2).
Weather: 54 Degrees, Clear
- UNCG -
