College of Charleston
USC Upstate
Three-run first inning sinks College of Charleston softball in 5-0 loss to USC Upstate
2/22/2009 5:00:00 AM | Softball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? A pair of home runs by junior centerfielder Crislyn Chewning and sophomore first baseman Lauren Quevedo led the USC Upstate (5-0) to a 5-0 victory over the College of Charleston (4-8) in the final game of pool play of the USC Upstate Campus Suites Classic in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Having denied Charleston a scoring opportunity with a runner on third in the top of the first inning, USC Upstate got on the board in the home half of the inning. A lead off single from senior outfielder Heidi Gibbs, followed by a three-base error on the next batter, allowed the Spartans to take a 1-0 lead. Following an RBI ground out from junior centerfielder Crislyn Chewning, sophomore first baseman Lauren Quevedo slugged a ball over the left field fence to make it a 3-0 lead.
USC Upstate managed a fourth run the following inning when a lead off single, hit-by-pitch and a single by senior outfielder Amber Patterson lead to a solo run to make it 4-0. The Cougars limited the Spartans to a pair of runners over the next two innings before junior centerfielder Crislyn Chewning homered off the light stanchion in right center to make it 5-0.
The score would remain that way as the Spartans allowed only one base runner over the final two innings to secure the five-run victory and advance to the championship game of the USC Upstate Campus Suites Classic.
Chewning led the Spartans with two RBI and was 1-for-3 with a home run while Quevedo finished 2-for-3 with a run and RBI off of a solo home run in the first. Patterson added the only other RBI for USC Upstate. Sophomore pitcher Morgan Childers pitched a complete-game two-hit shutout and struck out 11 to earn the victory and move to 5-0 on the season.
For Charleston, senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) and sophomore first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) had the only hits of the day, both singles, while redshirt sophomore catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) picked up a walk. Junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) pitched 4.1 innings, giving up eight hits, five runs and striking out four batters as she took the loss to drop to 2-5. Freshman pitcher Laura Jeroszko (Simpsonville, S.C.) threw 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings of relief, striking out two.
Charleston wraps up the tournament in the third place game against UMBC at 4:00 p.m.
