Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- The College of Charleston softball team tallied 20 total hits and scored 19 runs as it swept Hampton in a doubleheader, 14-4 in five innings of game one and 5-1 in game two, Tuesday afternoon at Patriots Point.
The Cougars improved to 23-26 overall and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. The team will travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina in a three-game SoCon series April 12 and 13. The Lady Pirates' record moves to 19-11 overall, 5-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Game one saw five different Cougars score two runs, starting with four runs scored in the first inning. Tiffany Harmon and Shannon Howard scored after Kristie Shifflett grounded out to shortstop. Brittany Small hit her second home run of the season, a two-out, two-run bomb to center, bringing in Katie Nutaitis in the effort.
In the second inning, Charleston added six more runs and batted through the line up. Shannon Howard tripled to right to score Kristi Woodall and then scored a run of her own off a ground-out by Shifflett. Small and Terri Mesko batted in the final two runs of the inning off a double to left-center and a single, respectively.
Hampton spoiled the shut out in the fourth inning with four runs. Joselyn Matthews single to third and scored off a double by Evelyn Garcia. Garcia, Jada Jeffries and Angela Balser added three more runs to bring the HU total to four.
Mesko (9-14) pitched a no-hitter, her first of the season. The McDonough, Ga., native struck out 10 batters in 12 at-bats. Alexa Datko (2-2) pitched one inning in relief of Mesko.
Jeffries (5-2) pitched through four innings for the Lady Pirates. She allowed 12 hits in 26 at-bats.
HU got on the board first in game two. Balser, hit a one-out homer to center field to put the Pirates up 1-0, her fourth of the year.
After going four innings without a run, the Cougars got on the board in the fifth with four runs. Christal Kotchman, Samantha Kubinski, Shifflett and Woodall tallied runs on one Hampton error and five hits. Mesko hit her second triple of the season in the sixth inning. She added CofC's final run on a ground-out by Kotchman.
Howard (11-11) pitched a complete game. The junior's 15 strikeouts were the most she has had this season. Howard allowed two hits in 23 at-bats.
