Hill hits three-run homer in second game

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BOONE, April 22, 2008 – The Appalachian State softball team committed two errors on one play to help North Carolina A&T earn a 6-5 win in the first game of a doubleheader played Tuesday afternoon at ASU Softball Park.

Sophomore pitcher Sasha Philpot tossed her third shutout of the season to help the Aggies win the second game 6-0. The Game 1 starter and winner was Jennifer Luper. She improved to 17-4 on the season and is now one win shy of tying the Aggies school record for wins in a season, set by Philpot last season.

What has to be refreshing for Aggie fans is that record will likely fall two years in a row, and in both instances a freshman set the mark. Luper inched closer to the mark by winning her second straight decision in extra innings. On Tuesday, she went nine innings, struck out three and surrendered just two earned runs.

After the Aggies took a 2-1 lead on a solo homer by Tangie Conover in the sixth inning, the Mountaineers did get to Luper in their half of the sixth to send the game into extra innings. ASU’s Meagan Squartino’s RBI single to right scored Brittany Gaston to tie the game at 2.

After both teams went scoreless in the seventh, the Aggies put the pressure on the Mountaineers in the eighth as Yahamma White laid down a bunt with two outs in the eighth that helped Sylvia Felder score from third to give the Aggies a 3-2 lead. The Mountaineers did respond. Stephanie Long hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Kristen Foster from third to tie the game.

With the help of the Mountaineers, the Aggies would give Luper more of a cushion to work with in the ninth. With Conover automatically placed on second because of international extra innings rules, Jessie Larson was placed on first after Mountaineers starter Kayla Richardson hit Larson with the first pitch she threw to her. Richardson’s problems would not end there.

Lillian Bullock singled to load the bases and Hill reached on a Richardson fielding error that was compounded by a Richardson throwing error. The two errors cleared the bases for the Aggies to give N.C. A&T a 6-3 lead going into the home half of the ninth.

The Mountaineers put runners on second and third thanks to a fielding error. With Sarah Rappe on second and Tiffany Hensley on third, Andrea McIntyre was able to lift a sacrifice fly to centerfield to advance each runner. Senior Natalie Willis plated Rappe on a single up the middle to cut the deficit to a run. Luper settled in a got Katie Boyd to pop out to first and Gaston to ground out to preserve the Aggies victory.

The second game wasn’t as close. Philpot went six innings, gave up just six hits and struck out just one as she watched her defense go errorless. Ryanne Hill helped the Aggies pull away by hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Aggies a 4-0 lead. Hill recorded her fourth RBI of the game in the fifth with a groundout to second that scored Larson for a 7-0 Aggies advantage.

Hill was helped offensively by Chaola Simmons who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI. Conover added two hits and two runs. N.C. A&T improved to 26-15-1 with the sweep of the Mountaineers. The Aggies will return to conference play on Saturday as they face Norfolk State in a 1 p.m., doubleheader at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex. The Aggies will close out the three-game series with the Spartans Sunday at noon.

They will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday as the Aggies softball team will honor Simmons and Felder.