GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team departed the UNCG Softball Stadium Saturday afternoon following a pair of dominating 9-1 Southern Conference triumphs over Western Carolina with its goal in sight.
The Spartans (30-15 overall, 13-4 SoCon) have a chance to make their goal a reality. They don't need any help nor do they not have to watch the scoreboard.
UNCG used a pair of pitching gems from
Morgan Scott and
Hannah Stiltner along with some terrific defense, and five home runs to vault past Western Carolina and into first-place of the Southern Conference with one game remaining.
Now, the stage for a winner-take-all showdown against Western Carolina (25-23, 12-4) on the final day of the regular season. You got your popcorn?
The winner will host the Southern Conference championship tournament beginning Thursday.
Three of UNCG's last four victories have been by eight runs. The win was the 280th coaching triumph for head coach
Janelle Breneman at UNCG. This was the 18th time in program history that UNCG has won at least 30 games.
The Spartans celebrated seniors
Breanna Butcher,
Melanie Darges,
Katie Stettler, and Stiltner before the contest for their fantastic careers. The festive mood continued through each game of the doubleheader.
In extending their winning streak to four games, the Spartans hit a combined .422 while smacking the ball all over the yard. Ten of UNCG's 19 hits went for extra bases. Western Carolina entered the game leading the SoCon in earned run average.
There were so many balls flying around the park that an air-traffic controller was necessary.
In the opener,
Delaney Cumbie hit a two-run homer as part of a four-run first inning,
Maycin Brown slugged a three-run homer while
Kayleigh Willis and
Jasmine Palmer hammered solo shots in the sixth inning to end the contest.
Scott finished with nine strikeouts for the Spartans and danced out of trouble on several occasions. Scott and Stiltner permitted the Catamounts five hits over the two games. They also combined for an 0.84 earned run average over 11 innings.
Stiltner was stellar in the nightcap as she survived serious adversity in the second inning, the result of a bases loaded one-out situation in a scoreless game. With Western Carolina threatening to score first, Stiltner notched a strikeout on a 3-2 pitch and gobbled up a comebacker to her for the final out.
Then the Spartan offense took control.
Well, more to the point,
Makenna Matthijs enhanced her SoCon Player of the Year resume with an offensive burst of excellence that had everybody in awe.
Her two-out, two-run triple in the second inning got UNCG started. It was the centerpiece of a four-run second inning. Matthijs added a two-run homer in the third inning to swell UNCG's advantage to 7-0. She finished with four RBIs to raise her SoCon leading total to 40.
With hits in each game, Matthijs extended her hitting streak to 11 games. The affable senior has 13 multi-hit games this season.
Hannah Kincer and
Maycin Brown had ringing doubles off of the wall during the victory. Senior
Breanna Butcher added a RBI hit in the fifth. Palmer and
Katie Stettler had two hits each.
Brown and
Melanie Darges had fun in the third inning playing catch with each other. Stiltner retired Western Carolina on three ground balls to Brown who tossed it over to Darges.
NOTES: UNCG has hit 77 home runs this season … The four homers in the opening game was the eighth time this season the Spartans hit at least that many in a single game … Eight different players have at least seven homers for the Spartans.
