Southern Conference Player of the Year, Jennifer Golden, belted a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning as No. 2-seeded College of Charleston eliminated No. 3-seeded Appalachian State from the SoCon Softball Championships with a 4-2 victory at the UNCG Softball Stadium Thursday.
The Cougars improved to 34-25 with the win, while the Mountaineers' season ended at 20-38. CofC will move on to face the loser of the game between No. 5 Western Carolina and No. 8 UNCG on Friday.
Terri Mesko picked up the win giving up two runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts over 11 innings. Appalachian's Kayla Richardson gave up four runs on eight hits and struck out two for the loss. Richardson pitched nine innings of scoreless ball before giving up four runs in the 11th.
Kristie Shifflett and Golden each had two RBI for CofC as Shifflett went 2-for-5 from the plate with a run scored. Golden's two RBI on her lone hit, a homerun, proved to be the difference maker in the win.
Brittany Gaston led the Appalachian offense with two hits, including a double. Diana Cook and Kristyn Hurt provided ASU's two RBI, as Hurt had the other double for the Mountaineers.
Neither team could put a hit on the board in the first two innings, heading into the third scoreless.
The Mountaineers threatened in the top of the third inning with a runner on third with two outs, but couldn't convert the run. In the bottom of the inning the Cougars got their first base runner of the game on an error by the ASU infield with no outs. A fielder's choice advanced the runner to third before the first hit of the game, a bunt down the first base line by Kolby Schooley, put runners on the corners with one out.
Richardson recorded her first strikeout of the game with Cabrera at the plate for two outs in the inning. Appalachian first baseman Dianna Cook scooped up a throw from the shortstop to end the CofC scoring threat and inning.
ASU's Kasey Motsinger broke up Mesko's no-hitter with a blistering line drive to the shortstop in the top of the fourth. Appalachian couldn't take advantage of the base runner, keeping the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Brittany Gaston laid down the team's second hit of the game in the top of the sixth inning with a blooper to shallow left field. ASU couldn't convert, and neither team could put a run on the board as they headed to the seventh inning scoreless.
College of Charleston held Appalachian in the top of the seventh. With one out and a runner on first base in the bottom of the seventh, Brittany Small popped up a bunt for a single, advancing the runner to second. On the next play, Brittany Gaston fielded a ground ball to second, tagging the runner and getting the batter out at first for an inning-ending double-play.
Schooley led off the bottom of the eighth with a single to left field, but the next three batters went down in order to end the inning for the College of Charleston as the two teams headed to the ninth inning still scoreless.
The Mountaineers went down in order in the top of the ninth. With two out and a runner on third, Danielle Peters saved the inning with a diving catch of Golden's foul fly in left field, as the two teams headed to the 10th inning.
With the international tiebreaker rule in place, neither team could take advantage of the extra runner at second base as the Mountaineers and Cougars headed to the 11th inning still knotted at zero.
ASU started the inning with Lindsay Glover on second base. Glover stole second, but couldn't advance on a bunt laid down by Brittany Gaston. The next batter, Cook, singled to center field to score Glover from third and give ASU a 1-0 lead in the 11th with one out. Motsinger advanced the pinch runner, Robyn Bronson, with a groundout to second, giving ASU a runner in scoring position with two outs, bringing Hurt to the plate. Hurt blasted a double off the wall in left center to score Bronson and give ASU a 2-0 advantage.
The Cougars were able to get out of the inning down just two runs. The first batter, Amber Shifflett converted a bunt down the right side to reach base and advanced the runner. The next batter, Kristie Shifflett doubled to right field to score both runners and tie the game at two, bringing SoCon Player of the Year, Golden to the plate. Golden belted a two-run homer deep to left center to give CofC the 4-2 victory.
