Charleston, S.C. -- The College of Charleston softball team will head south to play in the Cox Communications Classic Friday, Feb. 15, in Gainesville, Fla., hosted by No.10 Florida.
Day one will see the Cougars face Stetson at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and take on Florida in the night cap at 6:15 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. They will also face teams from East Tennessee State and North Carolina.
Charleston (1-7) split its home opener with Campbell Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Patriots Point Field in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. CofC dropped game one 12-7 in eight innings before taking game two, 2-0. Pitcher Shannon Howard (1-2) earned the squad's first win this season. The Carmichael, Calif., native pitched a complete game striking out five batters. Freshman Katie Nutaitis went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Kristi Woodall and Brittany Small each added one hit. Woodall a freshman from Huntersville, N.C., scored one run off a sacrifice fly by Kristie Shifflett and batted in a second in the Cougars' first win.
Nutaitis leads the team with her .350 batting average and seven hits including a double. First baseman Linzi Bereitschaft is 1-for-3 so far with four RBI.
ETSU (1-1) split a doubleheader in their season opener against Furman Saturday, Feb. 9, at Pepsi Stadium in Greenville, S.C. Junior Jessie Hackworth hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh to secure ETSU's 7-0 win in game one. The Paladins turned the tables in game two, going on to win 5-3. Hackworth led the offense with two hits in four at-bats, four RBI and one run scored. Centerfielder Vicki McCoy went 2-for-3 from the plate with one run. The Lady Bucs recorded 10 total hits. Pitcher Darci Gilbert got the win striking out four batters through seven innings.
The Gators (7-0) are coming into the weekend after sweeping Mercer in their doubleheader home opener Wednesday, Feb. 13. They produced 17 runs on 17 hits, winning the first game 5-0 and the second 12-1 in five innings. Freshman Megan Bush led UF going 4-for-6 in the two games, including a 3-for-3 showing in game two. Junior Stacey Nelson (4-0) struck out nine batters.
The Tar Heels (5-0) turned in a record-breaking weekend as they hosted the Carolina Classic Feb. 8-10, at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The squad broke the school record (18) for runs scored on Friday with 21 against George Washington, then went on to set a new precedent on Saturday with 24 against N.C. Central. Junior Lisa Norris was name the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Pitcher of the Week after her perfect 2-0 week in the Tar Heel's pursuit of the Carolina Classic title. She pitched two complete games in the tournament and struck out eight batters in each contest.
Stetson (3-2) hosted its own tournament Friday, Feb. 8 ? Sunday, Feb. 10, at Patricia Wilson Field in DeLand, Fla. The Hatters defeated Detroit 8-0 in five innings in game three and again in game seven 2-1 in eight innings. They also won 7-2 over Marist before falling to Ohio State 5-2 in game eight and 6-5 in the eight-inning championship game Sunday. The Hatters turned in seven hits and four RBI in the effort. Centerfielder Amy Joyce and pitcher Amanda Lindsey both went 2-for-5 with Lindsey batting in three runs. Lindsey pitched through 7.2 innings striking out two Buckeye batters.
Following the Cox Communications Classic, Charleston will take the week off before hosting the CofC Cougar Classic Feb. 22-24 at Patriots Point Field.
