College of Charleston Softball Travels to Charleston Southern
4/21/2009 7:30:00 PM | Softball
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The College of Charleston softball team plays its final non-conference double header when they travel to Charleston Southern on Wednesday, April 22. First pitch of the double header is slated for 2:00 p.m. in Ladson, South Carolina.
Team Capsules
College of Charleston Cougars
2009 Record: 17-22, 9-8 (4th in Southern Conference)
Streak: Win, 3 Games
2008 Record: 33-33, 12-8 (3rd in Southern Conference)
The Cougars take on local rival Charleston Southern following their most successful week of the season. Charleston went 4-1 with a double header split against Coastal Carolina before notching their first Southern Conference sweep of the season against Elon.
Senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) led the way against Coastal Carolina as she combined to go 4-for-7 with five RBIs, three runs and her first home run of the season in the double header. She finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a pair of walks in Game 1 before going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in the nightcap. Junior-redshirt second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) also had a very strong day going 3-for-7 with four RBIs, a run and a pair of steals. She delivered three RBIs in the opener before going 2-for-4 with a run and RBI in the final game.
Against Elon, junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) put together two dominant performances, beginning with a 1-0, 10-inning, one-hit, 10-strikeout shutout over the Phoenix in Game 1. She then followed that up with a six-inning, four-hit, complete game shutout that included seven strikeouts and her second straight shutout victory. For the week Mesko finished with 16.0 innings pitched, 17 strikeouts, a 0.00 ERA and limited opposing batters to a .100 average. She allowed only five hits on the week, two for extra bases. As a result, she has been named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season and fourth of her career.
At the plate, Amber Shifflett spearheaded the Cougars' offensive efforts by scoring the winning run in the series opener and going 2-for-4 with two runs, a pair of RBI and a steal in the second game, a 7-1 victory. She helped Charleston cap off the series with an impressive 10-0 win by posting a 2-for-3, two run day that included a key three-run home run and a pair of steals. Those steals extended her program record of 36 consecutive steals dating back to March 19, 2006 against South Carolina State. Her last caught stealing came on March 11 of that year against East Tennessee State. As a result of her outstanding performance on the week, Shifflett earned her first career Southern Conference Player of the Week award.
The College of Charleston has been led offensively this season by junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Amber Shifflett as the two have combined to drive in 69 of the program's 162 RBI this season and are ranked among the leaders of the Southern Conference. Kristie Shifflett currently leads the team in batting average (.381), slugging percentage (.690), on-base percentage (.493), home runs (9), RBI (36), total bases (78), hits (43) and walks (22) while her sister Amber leads the team with 13 steals (13of-13) and 26 runs, is second in RBI (33) and hits (41) and is third in batting average (.315), slugging percentage (.438) and total bases (57).
Senior designated hitter Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) is second on the club with seven home runs and a .534 slugging percentage and is third with 26 RBI. Christal Kotchman is second on the team in both walks (21) and on-base percentage (.401) while senior outfielder Tiffany Harmon (Lynn, Fla.) leads the team with 15 sacrifice hits and is second in batting average (.317) and steals (12of-14).
In the pitching circle, Terri Mesko continues to lead every major pitching category. She is 9-9 on the season with a 3.06 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 121.1 innings to go along with two saves. Howard is 5-10 with a 4.10 ERA and has 61 strikeouts in 87.0 innings. She also has one save on the season.
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Kristie Shifflett currently ranks second in batting average, third in home runs, RBI, on-base percentage and total bases and is fourth in walks. Amber Shifflett is fourth in RBI, is tied for third in steals and is sixth in runs scored while Kotchman is fifth in walks. In the pitching categories, Mesko is tied for third in strikeouts (99) and fourth in wins (9) and innings pitched (121.1).
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Senior outfielder Tiffany Harmon is currently fourth in the nation in sacrifice hits with an average of 0.47 per game. She trails Robert Morris' Lauren Nisivoccia who is at 0.54 entering the week.
Charleston Southern Lady Buccaneers
2009: 23-27, 7-8
Streak: Win, 2 Games
2008: 18-41, 2-13 (Big South Conference)
Charleston Southern continues to be a much improved team in 2009 as the Buccaneers have already surpassed last year's win total of 18 by five wins. The Lady Buccaneers opened 2009 at 3-0 with a sweep of North Carolina Central, a Division I transitional member, before going 2-7 over their next nine games to fall to 5-7. After that stretch CSU earned a 4-3 victory over Norfolk State before splitting with Campbell (2-1, loss and 7-1 win) at the Buc Invite.
CSU took four straight and six of eight to improve to 11-10 over the next several weeks before being no-hit in back-to-back games by Kent State (1-0) and North Florida (10-0). Following a split against CofC, the Buccaneers have gone on to win nine of their last eleven games, including three in a row over Presbyterian, and currently stand at 23-27 overall and 7-8 in the Big South.
Megan Hall leads Charleston Southern with a .329 batting average and has 23 RBIs while Gail Matsushima is batting .328 with a team-leading 30 RBI, .542 slugging percentage and .447 on-base percentage. Jamie Wellons is fourth on the team with a .296 batting average and third with 21RBI while leading the Buccaneer's pitching staff at 12-14 with a .272 ERA. She has also recorded 82 strikeouts in 162.1 innings.
Series History vs. Charleston Southern
One of the most common match-ups in the history of College of Charleston softball, the Bucs and Cougars have met a total of 51 times with CofC holding a 31-20 advantage all-time. The series dates back to March 5, 1993 when the two teams split a double-header during Charleston's first season of competition. Currently the Cougars have won 16 of the last 19 meetings, including a 13-game win streak from March 14, 2001 to May 2, 2007. That stretch also includes a double header split earlier this season against the Bucs in which Charleston claimed a 5-4, eight inning victory and dropped a 5-4 decision in the night cap.
Charleston Series Records Charleston Southern
vs. Charleston Southern: 31-20 (Last Meeting: L, 5-4, March 18, 2009)
Game Coverage
Live Stats: Live stats for both games will be available on College of Charleston's home page, www.CofCSports.com, in two different areas. On the main page live stats will be available under the “Live Stats” tab at the top of the page and will also be linked on the softball schedule page.
All-Time Series Results vs. Charleston Southern
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Date Winner Score
3/5/93 Charleston Southern 11-2
3/5/93 Coll. of Charleston 6-5
4/2/93 Charleston Southern 8-6
4/17/93 Coll. of Charleston 6-2
4/17/93 Charleston Southern 9-3
2/28/94 Charleston Southern 11-1 (5)
2/28/94 Charleston Southern 1-0
4/1/94 Coll. of Charleston 7-5
4/2/94 Coll. of Charleston 2-1
4/11/94 Coll. of Charleston 4-2
4/11/94 Charleston Southern 4-2
2/28/95 Coll. of Charleston 7-1
2/28/95 Coll. of Charleston 4-3
3/29/95 Coll. of Charleston 4-3 (9)
3/29/95 Charleston Southern 9-3
4/1/95 Coll. of Charleston 3-0
2/20/96 Coll. of Charleston 9-6
2/20/96 Charleston Southern 7-2 (6)
4/16/96 Charleston Southern 14-3 (5)
4/16/96 Charleston Southern 11-5
3/1/97 Charleston Southern 5-4
3/1/97 Charleston Southern 7-5
3/19/97 Charleston Southern 3-1
3/19/97 Charleston Southern 2-0
3/15/98 Coll. of Charleston 2-1
4/20/99 Coll. of Charleston 4-3
4/20/99 Coll. of Charleston 12-2
2/21/01 Charleston Southern 4-2
2/21/01 Coll. of Charleston 4-3
2/25/01 Coll. of Charleston 3-1
3/3/01 Charleston Southern 1-0
3/14/01 Coll. of Charleston 5-4
3/14/01 Coll. of Charleston 9-5
2/25/03 Coll. of Charleston 11-1
2/25/03 Coll. of Charleston 5-1
4/13/04 Coll. of Charleston 16-0
4/13/04 Coll. of Charleston 10-0
4/5/05 Coll. of Charleston 9-1
4/5/05 Coll. of Charleston 3-2
2/28/06 Coll. of Charleston 8-0
2/28/06 Coll. of Charleston 16-2
4/18/07 Coll. of Charleston 6-1
4/18/07 Coll. of Charleston 8-0
5/2/07 Coll. of Charleston 2-1
5/2/07 Charleston Southern 12-7
3/26/08 Charleston Southern 3-1
3/26/08 Coll. of Charleston 4-0
4/15/08 Charleston Southern 5-3
4/15/08 Coll. of Charleston 6-1
3/18/09 Coll. of Charleston 5-4 (8)
3/18/09 Charleston Southern 5-4
