Box Score - Georgia Southern vs. College of Charleston
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? A first inning grand slam by sophomore first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) and a pair of four-run innings set the tone early as the College of Charleston (4-11, 0-1) exploded for a 9-6 victory over Georgia Southern (8-10, 1-0) in the second game of their Southern Conference series Saturday afternoon in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the first inning, the Cougars proceeded to load the bases on a single and a pair of walks before Nutaitis drove a ball down the left field line for the first grand slam of her career and gave Charleston a 4-1 lead. After allowing a second inning run to make it 4-2 and choking off a third on a diving, inning-ending force out by senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.), CofC was right back at it in the home half of the inning.
Redshirt sophomore catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) led off the inning with a double down the left field line and scored on a single by redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) to make it 5-2. Following a walk to junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.), senior pitcher Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) then belted her third home run of the year, this one down the left field line, to make it an 8-2 ball game.
The Cougars added an RBI single by freshman shortstop Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) in the fourth before GSU battled back in the fifth inning, scoring a pair of runs on four hits, three of them doubles, to close to within 9-4. The Eagles would add two more runs in the sixth inning on a double by senior third baseman Robyne Siliga and a triple by senior infielder Amanda Hall to make it 9-6.
Junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) entered with two outs in the sixth and proceeded to set down the next four batters to collect her second save of the season and the fourth of her career.
For Georgia Southern, Siliga led the way with a 3-for-4, two-run, RBI performance while Hall finished the night at 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. Junior outfielder Kelly Burnett and junior first baseman Sam Russo accounted for the remaining two RBIs with one apiece. Sophomore pitcher Megen Smith took the loss for the Eagles as she went 1.2 innings, allowing eight runs, five hits and three walks.
Katie Nutaitis went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, four RBI and a run scored for Charleston while Shannon Howard finished 1-for-3 with a three-run home run. Amber Shifflett went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs and Katie Forbes finished at 2-for-4 with her first career RBI. Howard pitched 5.2 innings for the Cougars, allowing six runs, four earned, and striking out seven batters to move to 3-4 on the season.
The College of Charleston wraps up against Georgia Southern with the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m..
NOTES
With her fourth career save, Terri Mesko is now second all-time in the Cougars history, trailing only Rachael Stern's six career saves.
