College of Charleston
UNC Greensboro
Cougars Sweep UNC Greensboro, 8-2, Behind Mesko?s Four-Hit Gem
4/26/2009 8:15:00 PM | Softball
Boxscore - College of Charleston at UNC Greensboro
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) pitched a four-hit, complete game and struck out eight batters while freshman outfielder Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) delivered three RBIs, and eight on the weekend, as the College of Charleston (21-23, 12-8) swept UNC Greensboro (19-29, 7-11) with an 8-2 victory in the finale of their Southern Conference series on Sunday, April 26.
The College of Charleston jumped out ahead early, notching solo runs in each of the first two innings as junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) singled to right center in the first and senior outfielder Tiffany Harmon (Lynn Haven, Fla.) laced a single up the middle to make it 2-0 in the second.
In the third inning, redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.)
and Kristie Shifflett led off the inning with back-to-back singles before senior designated hitter Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) drilled her eighth double of the season to push the lead to 4-0. UNCG would get one back in the bottom of the inning as freshman outfielder Jordan Jewett tripled home a run to make it 4-1.
The Cougars would tack on four more runs over the fifth and sixth innings with an RBI single by freshman outfielder Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) and a bases loaded walk by pinch hitter Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) in the fifth and a two-RBI single by Forbes in the sixth. That stretched CofC's lead to a commanding 8-1. UNCG scratched a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to reach the final margin.
Jewett had the top performance for the Spartans as she went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI while redshirt senior pitcher Hannah Angel started and took the loss after allowing six hits and four runs in three innings of work. She falls to 11-12 on the season.
Terri Mesko had another impressive outing as she pitched a complete game, four-hitter and allowed only two runs while striking out eight. With the win, she improves to 11-9 the season and has now won her last three decisions.
Offensively, Forbes produced a 2-for-3, three RBI day while Harmon finished 3-for-5 with a run, an RBI and her 14th steal of the season, tying for the team lead. Kristie Shifflett went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI while her sister, Amber, finished 2-for-4 with three runs and a walk. Howard added two RBI with her eighth double of the season.
On the weekend, Forbes produced eight RBIs and delivered a number of key performances to help lead Charleston to its second consecutive series sweep. The last time that occurred was March 31-April 15 of 2007 when CofC swept Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Furman. They have now won six in a row in conference and eight of their last ten games overall.
The Cougars maintained their third place standing in the Southern Conference with the victory, staying ahead of a Georgia Southern team that defeated Chattanooga 1-0.
Charleston wraps up the Southern Conference regular season next weekend when they host defending champion Chattanooga May 2-3 at Patriots Point.
