2009 Softball Season In Review
May 15, 2009 | Softball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - For the Gardner-Webb softball team, 2009 was a season of firsts - the Bulldogs first year competing as members of the Big South and the first ever appearance for Gardner-Webb in the Big South Softball Championship tournament. Head Coach Tom Cole's squad in 2009 was very young, as the roster consisted of seven freshmen and only two seniors. Yet the youth did not perturb the Bulldogs, as GWU picked up 19 wins on the season.
The Bulldogs started off the 2009 season with a win in its season
opener, a 2-0 victory over Austin Peay at the Samford Bulldog Bash
in Birmingham, Alabama. Gardner-Webb then dropped its next two
contests, both against No. 24 nationally ranked Southern Illinois,
before again defeating Austin Peay, this time 10-1, to finish its
opening weekend at the Bulldog Bash at 2-2.
Gardner-Webb then returned home to host the GWU Tournament at
Varsity Field on February 20-21. Coach Cole's squad finished the
first day of the tournament at 1-1, defeating Howard 9-1 before
dropping its second game of the day to Lehigh 16-4. On day two of
the event, Howard had to return home to due personal team reasons,
leaving the Bulldogs and Lehigh to square off in a doubleheader.
Lehigh was able to hold off the Bulldogs in game one, defeating the
Bulldogs 7-5. Yet Gardner-Webb responded in game two, winning
16-11 in what was an offensive slugfest.
At 4-4 after two weekend tournaments, the Bulldogs then traveled
down the road to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on former Atlantic Sun
Conference foe USC Upstate. The Lady Spartans of USC Upstate
protected its home territory, shutting out the Bulldogs in both
games of the doubleheader dropping GWU to 4-6 overall heading into
the month of March.
The Bulldogs opened up the month of March on the road at the
Maryland Round Robin hosted by the University of Maryland in
College Park. Gardner-Webb fell to the Big Green of Dartmouth
University 12-3 in its first game, but bounced back to pick up a
big 3-1 extra inning win over the Manhattan Jaspers in game two.
On day two of play, GWU battled with the host Maryland Terrapins
before falling 1-0 in seven innings and then went on to decisively
defeat Manhattan 8-0, the Bulldogs second win over the Jaspers in
as many days.
After the Maryland Round Robin, the Bulldogs jump started its
spring break playing six games in three-consecutive days. On March
10, Gardner-Webb swept Winston-Salem State, defeating the Lady Rams
10-0 and 9-0 in Winston-Salem. Coach Cole's squad then turned
around the very next day to play a doubleheader against N.C.
A&T in Greensboro, N.C., where the Lady Aggies swept the
Bulldogs with a 3-1 win in game one and a 7-2 victory in game two.
The Bulldogs then returned home to host the Lady Hoyas of
Georgetown on the 12th. After the GWU bats were held hitless in
the first game of the twin bill, the Bulldogs took game two in
dramatic fashion with a 3-2 walk-off win.
However, the Bulldogs dropped its next three contests, all of which
came at home, falling to Towson 2-1 and 6-5, then dropping its
first-ever Big South Conference contest to Presbyterian 4-0 on
March 19.
Yet Coach Cole's young squad responded, as the Bulldogs returned
with a vengeance, sweeping Appalachian State in dramatic fashion in
Gardner-Webb's final two non-conference games of the season. After
holding off the Mountaineers in game one for the 3-2 win, a
five-run seventh inning capped off by a walk-off grand-slam in game
two, gave the Bulldogs a 9-8 win.
At 11-14 after the sweep of Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb opened
up the heart of its conference slate with the Radford Highlanders
on March 29-30. The Highlanders, who would go on to win both the
conference regular season and championship tournament titles,
defeated the Bulldogs in all three-games, dropping GWU to 0-4 in
conference play.
Gardner-Webb bounced back to pick up its first ever Big South
Conference win on April 2, as junior hurler Christine Murray
pitched a one-hit complete game shutout to help lead the Bulldogs
to a 2-0 win over Presbyterian. However, the Blue Hose battled
back to defeat GWU 5-3 in the second game of the twin bill to put
the Bulldogs at 1-5 in the conference after two series.
The young Bulldogs responded by winning its next two conference
weekend series, going 4-2 over that span. Gardner-Webb kicked off
its winning ways with a 3-2 win over Coastal Carolina in Myrtle
Beach, S.C. on April 4. After the Lady Chanticleers took game two
on Saturday, the Bulldogs rebounded with a 2-1 win on Sunday to
take the series 2-1.
Coach Cole's squad's next series win came over the Liberty Lady
Flames the following weekend, as GWU dropped the opening game 5-1,
but bounced back at Varsity Field to sweep Liberty on Saturday,
April 11, 2-1 and 6-5.
Gardner-Webb then pushed its winning streak to three straight games
on April 17, defeating Charleston Southern 4-1 in the opening game
of a three-game weekend series and improving to 6-7 in the Big
South. However, the Bulldogs dropped the next two contests to the
Lady Buccaneers in Charleston, S.C., including a heartbreaking 4-3
loss in the third and final game of the series.
With the end of the semester approaching and exams looming, the
Bulldogs struggled at the end of April, falling in three straight
games to the pre-season favorites Winthrop Lady Eagles, which gave
Coach Cole and his squad five consecutive losses to end the season,
its longest losing streak on the year.
With a 6-12 conference regular season record, the Bulldogs entered
its first ever Big South Softball Championship tournament in 2009
as the No. 5 seed, but turned some hands in the three-day event.
Gardner- Webb went 2-2 in the tournament, defeating No. 4
Charleston Southern in the opening round and then eliminating No. 6
Coastal Carolina in the first elimination game of the
championships. While at the tournament the Bulldogs made history,
as in the 12-8 win over No. 6 Coastal Carolina, the two teams
combined for 20 runs, the third most in Big South Softball
Championship history.
The Bulldogs had four players receive postseason honors, as junior
first-baseman Christa Fullwood and sophomore utility player Kelsey
Witter both earned spots on the All-Conference First-Team, while
junior shortstop Melody Harrell and junior catcher Mandy Ward both
were named to the Second-Team All- Conference. The four
all-conference selections were the most ever for a GWU team in one
year since the Bulldogs moved to the NCAA Division level in
2000-01. Fullwood along with Christine Murray were both named to
the 2009 Big South Softball Championship All-Tournament Team as
well.
Gardner-Webb's Christa Fullwood also made waves nationally, as at
the conclusion of the Bulldogs 2009 season, the junior was ranked
seventh in the nation in batting average with her average of .460
on the year. Fullwood was also ranked 23rd in the country in on
base percentage at .519 and 48th nationally in slugging percentage
at .719.
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| 2009 Softball Season Statistics |
| GWU Team Records/Season Records/Career Records |
