April 3, 2012
Softball Plays Five Big South Conference Games This Week
Game Notes
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – This week Campbell's softball team (17-18, 2-2 Big South Conference) tries to get back to the winning ways both overall and in conference play and hosts Winthrop for a pair of games on Wednesday, April 4, starting at 4 p.m. at the Eakes Athletic Complex. CU then spends the weekend in Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on conference rival Gardner-Webb for a three-game set starting on Friday, April 6, at 1 p.m. at Varsity Field.
The Camels went 1-3 last week with a loss to No. 23 North Carolina and a pair of losses to current Big South Conference leader Radford. Sophomore Raven Lee had a strong week for Campbell with two home runs and six RBIs. Fellow sophomore Olivia Scarborough appeared in three games with two starts in the circle. She pitched 13 innings and struck out 10 while sporting a 2.15 ERA.
CU enters the ninth week of the year ranking highly in the Big South in numerous categories. Junior Sarah Forgacs is tied for the league lead in doubles (9) and triples (2). She is also tied for fourth in the conference in runs scored (20) and 10th in hits (32). Freshman Stephanie Jones is tied for the league lead in doubles (9), tied for second in RBIs (25), third in total bases (57), sixth in hits (36), tied for sixth in slugging percentage (.521), eighth in stolen bases (9) and tied for 10th in runs (19). Senior Taylor McGee is tied for second in RBIs (25), tied for fourth in home runs (6) and doubles (7), fifth in slugging percentage (.548) and seventh in total bases (51). Freshman Ericka Nesbitt is second in hits (38), tied for fourth in stolen bases (10), sixth in on-base percentage (.438) and tied for fourth in runs (20). Sophomore Raven Lee is second in home runs (8), tied for fourth in walks (19), fifth in RBIs (22) and sixth in total bases (53). Freshman Kailey Farmer and senior Christina Melton are tied for sixth in home runs (4). Junior Brittany Arnn is tied for fourth in wins (7), tied for fifth in shutouts (2) and complete games (9). She is sixth in strikeouts (49), tied for eighth in games started (14) and 10th in appearances (17). Freshman Julia Callicutt is second in opponent batting average (.198), tied for fifth in shutouts (2), tied for ninth in wins (5) and 10th in strikeouts (38). Melton is eighth in complete games (5), tied for eighth in innings pitched (59.1) and ninth in strikeouts (40).
Campbell leads the conference in slugging percentage (.430) and doubles (47). The team is second in the league in batting average (.270), runs scored (146), on-base percentage (.353), runs batted-in (136), home runs (27), total bases (367) and stolen bases (43). The Camels also rank 46th in the nation in doubles per game (1.34) and 15th in double plays a contest (0.46).
Winthrop (13-22, 2-5 Big South) took two of three games on the road in the conference from Liberty over the weekend to end an 11-game losing streak. In the recent losing streak the program did take on five ranked team. On the year the Eagles have played against eight ranked teams including a victory over then No. 9 Tennessee in late February. Winthrop is led by junior Chelsey Schoenfeldt. Schoenfeldt was named the Big South Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, April 2. She currently leads the Eagles in batting average (.374), hits (37), doubles (6), home runs (4), RBIs (23) and walks (16). She also serves as a member of the pitching staff and has won five games and thrown 83.1 innings on the campaign. Megan Chapman is another one to watch with her .326 batting average 30 hits and 10 stolen bases. Natalie Becker leads the team in the circle with her seven wins, eight complete games and league-high 123 strikeouts in 117.1 innings thrown. She has also appeared in 32 games already this season and has two saves. The Eagles lead the all-time series between the schools at 25-7. The Camels defeated Winthrop by a 5-4 score earlier this season in Rock Hill, S.C. in the first game of the series since 2005. McGee had Campbell's game-winning hit with her single to score Forgacs in the sixth inning. Scarborough threw 4.1 innings of scoreless relief for Campbell in the game. Jones put together a three-hit performance in the game for the Camels with Farmer driving in a pair of runs with her double.
Gardner-Webb (15-20, 2-5 Big South) won a pair of conference games last week with victories over Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina. The Runnin' Bulldogs are being led by Samantha Meenaghan. Meenaghan leads the conference with her 44 hits and a .396 batting average. She also has scored 18 runs, has a pair of triples and driven in 14. Melinda Dulkowski is hitting .310 with 26 hits, 12 RBIs and six stolen bases. Savannah Burns has 15 RBIs to go with her 29 hits. McKenzie Morenus is tied for the team lead in home runs (3) and leads the squad in RBIs (17). Cindy Boomhower has a team-best 2.30 ERA and is tied for the lead with five wins. She also has struck out 48 in her 70 innings worked and totaled two saves. Alyssa Gutierrez has thrown a team-high 80.2 innings and has also won five games. The Camels haven't faced Gardner-Webb since 2008 in Buies Creek, N.C. when both teams were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, although CU and the Runnin' Bulldogs have played in two of the same tournaments this season (Lipton Invitational and Adidas/Winthrop Invitational). Gardner-Webb leads the all-time series by a slight 9-8 margin. The last time the teams met Campbell's Brittany Stanley threw a perfect game in the first game and CU fell in the second game by a 4-3 margin in nine innings.
After this weekend's action, the Camels briefly get out of league play with a doubleheader on the road against North Carolina State on April 11 starting at 4 p.m. CU is also scheduled to head to Charleston, S.C. to take on Charleston Southern for a three-game conference set from April 13-14.
