College of Charleston
Samford
Seven-run sixth inning sinks College of Charleston 8-4 vs. Samford
3/15/2009 4:00:00 AM | Softball
Boxscore - College of Charleston vs. Samford
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. ? A seven run explosion in the sixth inning by Samford (7-13, 1-3) keyed a late-inning comeback as the Bulldogs defeated the College of Charleston (7-13, 2-2) 8-4 in the first game of a Southern Conference series on Sunday, March 15 in Birmingham, Alabama. The victory is the first in the Southern Conference for Samford.
The Cougars took the early lead with an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) in the first inning and extended to a 3-0 advantage when redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) singled home two more runs in the third inning.
Junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) allowed her first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when senior first baseman Kristy Lawrence drilled a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to pull the Bulldogs to within 3-1. CofC would answer back in the top of the sixth as sophomore outfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.) led off the inning with her second career home run, a shot to left center that made the score 4-1.
In the home half of the inning, Samford got started early as junior third baseman Katie England launched a ball over the left centerfield fence to begin the Bulldogs rally. Back-to-back hit-by-pitch put runners on base for sophomore shortstop Amanda Jordan who laced a two-run double to tie the game at 4-4. From there, Samford would go on to score three more runs in the inning to reach the final margin of 8-4.
Jordan led the way for the Bulldogs with a 1-for-2 day with a run and two RBIs as no member of the squad had more than one hit. Lawrence went 1-for-1 with two runs and an RBI on a home run while five other members of the Samford squad delivered one RBI a piece. In the circle, sophomore pitcher Kayla Burris earned the win in relief with a scoreless, no-hit, two-inning effort. She improves to 2-2.
For Charleston, Nutaitis finished with a 2-for-4 day with an RBI and a run while Amber Shifflett delivered two RBIs. Woodall provided the last of the Cougars' offense with her first home run of the season and senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) finished 2-for-4 with her fifth steal of the season. Terri Mesko went five innings, allowing five runs to drop to 4-8 on the season.
The Cougars return to action with the second of three games later this afternoon.
