College of Charleston
Charleston Southern
Forbes Throws Two-Hit Shutout as CofC Splits at Charleston Southern
4/22/2009 10:45:00 PM | Softball
Game 1 Boxscore - College of Charleton at Charleston Southern
Game 2 Boxscore - College of Charleton at Charleston Southern
LADSON, S.C. - Senior outfielder Tiffany Harmon (Lynn Haven, Fla.) went 3-for-3 with two RBI in Game 1 and freshman pitcher Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) pitched a complete game two-hitter in the second game as the College of Charleston (18-23, 9-8) split a non-conference double header with Charleston Southern (24-28, 7-8 Big South) on Wednesday, April 22. CSU claimed the first game by a score of 7-3 before the Cougars posted a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.
GAME 1
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 7, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 3
Charleston Southern took the early lead in Game 1 as they scored five runs over the first two innings before pulling out a 7-3 victory.
After holding Charleston scoreless in the opening frame, the Buccaneers opened the home half of the inning with three RBI singles to take a 3-0 lead. The Cougars would get on the board in the second as Tiffany Harmon
singled through the right side with two outs and a runner on third to make it 3-1.
CSU continued their offensive output in the bottom of the inning when centerfielder Brittany Giannini singled and scored on a triple to right by shortstop Megan Lombard. That pushed the lead back to 4-1 before second baseman Amy Trenkamp delivered a sacrifice fly to score Lombard from third and give the Bucs a 5-1 advantage.
The Cougars chipped away in the fourth inning as Harmon tripled to right with a runner on second base to close to within 5-2 before keying a third run in the sixth. In that inning, Harmon singled with two outs, stole second and scored on a line drive single up the middle by senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) to make it 5-3.
That would be as close as they would get as CSU added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before closing out the four-run victory with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Megan Hall led the Buccaneers with a 2-for-3, one run, RBI day while Lombard finished 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Trenkamp added a run and RBI while third baseman Gail Matsushima and pitcher Jamie Wellons each finished with an RBI to round out the offensive side of the ledger. In the pitching circle, Wellons pitched a complete game, allowing nine hits and three runs while striking out a pair to earn the victory and move to 13-16.
For the College of Charleston, Tiffany Harmon produced a 3-for-3, two RBI day that included a run, a walk and her 13th stolen base of the season. Kotchman added the other RBI with a 1-for-3 performance while senior pitcher Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) finished 2-for-4 with a run.
In the pitching circle Howard threw her fourth straight complete game. She suffered the loss, however, as she allowed seven runs, six of them earned, and scattered eight hits to go along with six strikeouts. She falls to 5-11 on the season.
GAME 1 NOTES
The loss snaps the Cougars season-high three-game winning streak ... Tiffany Harmon's three-hit day marked her third this season while her stolen base extended her streak to four straight games with a swipe.
GAME 2
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 2, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 0
In stark contrast to the first game of the day, the nightcap turned out to be a pitcher's duel. Charleston Southern allowed four hits over the first four innings while CofC's Katie Forbes limited the Bucs to a mere two singles over that same span.
It would hold that way until the top of the fifth inning when Tiffany Harmon led off with a single to left, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to the left centerfield gap by junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Charleston would add to that the following inning when Forbes doubled to left, advanced to third on a fielding error and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman catcher Kelley Dillon (Hanahan, S.C.) to make it 2-0. That would be all they would need as Forbes was masterful down the stretch, setting down 10 of the final 11 batters to face her, and closed out the first complete game of her career with a two-hit shutout.
Charleston Southern was limited to only two hits on the day, those coming from Jamie Wellons and left fielder Melissa Adams in the form of a pair of singles. Sondra Vetter took the loss for the Buccaneers as she pitched the entire game and gave up both runs, one earned, and surrendered seven hits to fall to 11-10.
Forbes led the Cougars with her complete game, two-hit shutout in only her second collegiate pitching appearance and earned her first career win in the process, improving to 1-0. She struck out six batters and allowed only a pair of walks over seven innings of work.
Offensively, Kristie Shifflett led the way with a 2-for-4, RBI day while Dillon collected the other RBI with her sac fly in the sixth inning. Forbes and Harmon each notched a hit and run scored. Redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) added a hit and her 14th steal of the season in 14 attempts. She now has swiped 37 consecutive bases dating back to March 19, 2006 against South Carolina State.
The College of Charleston will begin its stretch drive in the Southern Conference this weekend when they travel to UNC Greensboro for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, April 25.
GAME 2 NOTES
With her 37 RBI on the season, Kristie Shifflett is now tied for second place in the Southern Conference with Georgia Southern's Amanda Hall ... she trails Appalachian State's Katie Boyd who has 40 ... the shutout victory marks the third for the Cougars in their last five games ... CofC blanked Elon 1-0 and 10-0 in their Southern Conference series this past weekend ... the College of Charleston is 42-of-48 in steal attempts this season for an 88 percent success rate ... the Cougars have been successful in their last 10 steal attempts dating back to April 18 vs. Elon.
