Tournament Run Ends on Friday at SoCon Championship - Western Carolina University
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2024 SB Team Photo (Post SoCon Tournament)
1
Western Carolina WCU 18-35
4
Winner Samford SAM 24-31
Western Carolina WCU
18-35
1
Final
4
Samford SAM
24-31
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Western Carolina WCU 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Samford SAM 0 0 3 0 1 0 X 4 7 0

W: Partain (10-16) L: Juett, Tessa (14-16)

Game Recap: Softball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Tournament Run Ends on Friday at SoCon Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Western Carolina softball battled until the end in the 2024 Southern Conference Softball Championship, but a three-run third by Samford allowed the third-seeded Bulldogs to rally from the early one-run deficit to score a 4-1 win in Friday's elimination game at the UNCG Softball Stadium. 

Senior Savannah Baldwin posted her 13th multi-hit game of the season with a pair of hits including her team-high 12th double. Mattie Mentel added her fifth double of the season to round out the hits for WCU on Friday afternoon. 

A day after cementing her name in the program record book for hits in a season (72) and stolen bases (34), freshman Lily Bell finished the season with a .387 average, good enough for second-best in the program's single-season record book. Bell also finished in a tie for fifth in runs scored in a season with 41. 

Junior Tessa Juett grabbed her 18th complete game of the season on Friday, moving into a tie for fourth in the program's single-season record book. 
 

The Catamounts again opened the scoring again as Mentel grabbed a one-out double and advanced to third with a Baldwin base knock. Jeralynn Wells then laid a sacrifice down to give WCU the early lead. In the home half, Catamount starter Juett worked around a leadoff single with three straight outs capped by a strikeout to maintain the 1-0 lead. 

After Samford held the Catamounts to the minimum at the plate in the second, the Bulldogs grabbed a lead-off double in the home half of the inning, but Juett was able to limit the trouble and keep the lead at one. 

Samford recorded a three-run inning in the home half of the third including an RBI double to jump out to the 3-1 lead after three. 

Baldwin doubled to open the fourth and moved over to third early in the frame. However, Samford used back-to-back strikeouts to erase WCU's threat. Juett kept the deficit at two with a 1-2-3 frame, which included a pair of strikeouts to end the Samford at-bats in the fourth. 

The Bulldogs extended their lead in the fifth by adding a solo blast to left field to push the lead to three, 4-1 after five frames. 

Wells drew a two-out walk in the sixth inning but could not advance as the Bulldogs kept the advantage at three through 5.5 innings. Samford pushed two runners into scoring position in the sixth before Juett kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.

Western Carolina (18-35) was unable to get anything going in the seventh with a 1-2-3 frame, as Samford advanced to Friday afternoon's action in Greensboro by the score of 4-1.

Juett (14-16) finished off her 18th complete game of the season, scattering seven hits and four runs with one earned run. The Berea, Ky. native grabbed three strikeouts to run her seasonal total to 159 punchouts to finish eighth in the single-season program record book. Juett's 18 complete games tied for the fourth most in program history for a single season. 

Jordyn Partain (10-16) matched Juett on Friday with a complete game of her own. She scattered three hits and allowed one run to help propel the Bulldogs to the victory. Partain also added three strikeouts en route to her 10th win of the season. 

Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com
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