College of Charleston
UMBC
Pair of blasts from Kristie Shifflett and Shannon Howard provide offense in 3-2 victory over UMBC
2/21/2009 5:00:00 AM | Softball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) and senior pitcher Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) each belted home runs as the College of Charleston (3-6) handed UMBC (0-2) a 3-2 defeat Saturday morning in the opening game of the Cougars triple header at the USC Upstate Campus Suites Classic in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Following a one-out walk by redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) in the first inning, Kristie Shifflett took a 2-2 count and drilled a pitch over the left centerfield fence to give Charleston an early 2-0 lead. It would stay that way until the bottom of the third inning when Howard helped her own cause as she launched her 17th career home run to push the lead to 3-0.
The Retrievers would respond in the top of half of the fourth as sophomore designated hitter Lauren O'Malley pinch hit and singled though the left side. Sophomore centerfielder Julia Culotta then drove the fourth pitch she saw out to right center for a two-run home run and narrowed the gap to 3-2.
That would be as close as UMBC would get though as Shannon Howard retired the next three batters before giving way to junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) for the final three innings. Mesko then proceeded to set down the final nine batters in order, four by strikeout, to collect her first save of the season and the third of her career. Combined, the Cougars retired the final 12 batters of the game to lock down a 3-2 victory.
Culotta led the Retrievers with two RBIs and a 1-for-3 day while O'Malley and sophomore first baseman Malorie Weller collected the only other hits. Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Weigman went the distance for UMBC, allowing four hits and all three runs, but took the loss despite eight strikeouts.
For Charleston, Kristie Shifflett went 1-for-2 with her second home run of the year and two RBIs while Shannon Howard delivered her first long ball of the year for an RBI and run scored. Amber Shifflett and freshman shortstop Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) each added a hit for the Cougars. Redshirt sophomore catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) was 0-1 but drew a pair of hit-by-pitches.
In the circle, Howard and Mesko dominated the Retreivers' hitters as they allowed only three hits and two runs. Howard earned her first victory of the season (1-3) with a four inning, three-hit, two-run performance while Mesko retired all nine batters and struck out four to collect her first save of the season. She is now 26 strikeouts away from breaking the Cougars all-time strikeout record of 462 set by Rachael Stern from 2003-05 and is currently tied for the third most saves for a career with three.
The Cougars are back in action later today as they take on Presbyterian in a 3:00 p.m. contest in the second of three games on the day.
NOTES
The two hit-by-pitches in a game for Pesature mark the third time in her career she has accomplished the feat ... that is currently tied for the second most hit-by-pitches in a single contest in Charleston history ... for her career, the two hit-by-pitches give her 19 for her career which is good for fourth all-time in Cougar history.
