Grand slam pushes Bison over Cougars at Stanford tourney

Saturday, March 8

Palo Alto, Calif.

12 p.m.

College of Charleston

North Dakota State

Grand slam pushes Bison over Cougars at Stanford tourney

3/8/2008 5:00:00 AM | Softball

By: CofCSports.com

Palo Alto, Calif. -- A seventh-inning grand slam by Kelly Cantrell pushed North Dakota State over the College of Charleston softball team 13-3 in game eight of the Stanford Classic Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (9-16) will face Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bison finish the weekend 2-2 and improve their record to 20-7 overall.

After five NDSU runs in four innings, CofC got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Tiffany Harmon started off the home half of the fourth with a double to left. With two outs, Harmon advanced to third after Kristie Shifflett grounded out. After Shannon Howard reached base on a Bison error, Harmon took advantage of the opportunity to score the Cougars' first run.

Charleston seemed to pick up momentum in the fifth, scoring two more runs. Brittany Small reached on a walk. Second baseman Alex Williams sent a single to right field and continued to second after an error by the NDSU right fielder. Small took two bases and brought in CofC's second run. Harmon smacked her second double of the game to center, bringing Williams in for the third Cougar run.

Charleston pulled within two runs before the Bison added one run in the sixth and Cantrell's grand slam in the top of the seventh.

Harmon led the offense in the effort. The Lynn Haven, Fla., native went 2-for-3 on the day with one RBI and one run scored. Christina Mascarenaz and Williams added CofC's remaining two hits.

Howard (5-7) struck out four Bison batters allowing for runs before being relieved by Alexa Datko. Allison Bakke (13-4) pitched a complete game and struck out seven CofC batters.