Reed's homer abruptly ends
Gulf South Conference battle

By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
May 3, 2004
As she stepped into the batter's box late on Sunday afternoon, the thought of what it would be like to hit a game-winning home run ran through Melanie Reed's mind.
"I have to admit, just for a minute, I did think about it," the University of West Florida freshman said. "But then I forgot about that and concentrated on just getting a hit."
She got the hit all right. Reed ripped a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence to give UWF a 2-0, eight-inning win over Southern Arkansas University in the finals of the Gulf South Conference Softball Championship Tournament played at Northeast Park over the weekend.
"Once again it was a case of them making one mistake and us hitting it," said UWF head coach Tami Cyr. "This was a great game. Going into it, I really thought it would come down to a home run."
The win gave the Argos their first GSC tournament title since 1998 the first year the double-elimination event was held in Meridian. West Florida lost in the finals to Alabama Huntsville in 2003, 2000 and 1999.
While the homerun ended the game, the highlight of the contest was superb pitching by UWF's Jackie Moore and SAU's Krystal Poulin.
Moore, who won five games in the tournament and walked away with the Most Outstanding Player award, struck out five Riderettes and allowed just two hits.
Poulin struck out 16 for SAU, but it was the long ball that hurt her against UWF. Southern Arkansas' only other loss was to UWF, with the Argos hitting three solo homers on Saturday to win 3-0.
"Krystal is such a strong and powerful pitcher that if she makes a mistake and you hit it, you have a chance to hit it a long way," Cyr said.
Southern Arkansas 3
Arkansas-Monticello 1
Whitney Brannon ripped a two-out, two-run double in the top of the eighth inning to power Southern Arkansas into the final round.
Krystal Poulin had another strong outing on the mound to lead the Riderettes to their 27th win on the season.
UAM threatened in the bottom of the eighth, using an error and a single to put runners on second and third with one out, but Poulin recorded a strikeout and then got the last hitter to pop out to end the game.
"We had a lot of freshmen step up big for us today," said SAU head coach Jenifer Pagani.
While Brannon's big hit was huge, Pagani said the tide of the game turned in the fifth inning.
The Blossoms loaded the bases with two outs, thanks to a pair of walks and a single. But Poulin bounced back to strike out Laura Lockaby, who had homered the inning before.
"That was huge," Pagani said. "Lockaby was like 9-for-10 up until that point and then we struck her out." Lockaby had three of UAM's five hits in the game, while Tisha Thompson homered and singled to lead Southern Arkansas in the two-run win.
West Florida 10
Henderson State 1
The Argonauts blasted out 14 hits to roll to a 10-1 win over the Lady Reddies in a semifinal game.
Lindsay Warrenfeltz ripped a homer and single and drove in three runs to lead UWF, while Natalie Manis and Alex Tice had three hits each.
Amanda Birdsong homered for West Florida, while Lauren Lewis had a homer and two singles for HSU. Grace Powell had a single and double for the Lady Reddies.
Henderson State ends the season at 34-13.
Henderson State 3
Delta State 0
HSU's Christine Palmer struck out 12 and allowed no walks and three hits to lead the Lady Reddies past Delta State in Sunday's first-round of elimination games.
Lauran Lewis ripped a solo homer in the third inning to put Henderson State up 1-0, then the Lady Reddies strung together three hits in the fourth to pick up two more runs.
Lindsey Causey led HSU with two hits, while Brandi Vondenstein had a double for Delta State. DSU ended the season at 36-16.
Arkansas-Monticello 5
Valdosta State 3
Arkansas-Monticello built a 5-0 lead, then held off a late Valdosta State charge to eliminated the Lady blazers 5-3 on Sunday morning.
UAM first-baseman Laura Lockaby belted a three-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third to power the Blossoms.
VSU went into the top of the seventh trailing 5-0, but used a three-run, nobody out homer to cut it to 5-3.
Lindsey Kight picked up the win on the mound for UAM, while Lockaby had two hits and four RBIs. Kelly Summers and Kathy Watkins had two hits each for VSU.