College of Charleston
Chattanooga
CofC Locks Up No. 2 Seed in SoCon Tournament With 10-7 Win Over Chattanooga
5/3/2009 8:15:00 PM | Softball
Game 3 Boxscore - Chattanooga at College of Charleston
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Senior designated hitter Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs and redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) tied the program record with three steals as the College of Charleston (23-24, 14-9) defeated Chattanooga (26-22, 15-5) 10-7 in the finale of their Southern Conference series. The victory locks up the No. 2 seed for the Cougars in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament. It is the third time in four seasons they have accomplished that feat.
Chattanooga jumped ahead early as sophomore centerfielder Lyndsey Stiles led off the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore first baseman Michelle Fuzzard to make the score 1-0. It would not stay that way long as the Cougars responded in the bottom of the inning with a tying home run from senior shortstop Christal Kotchman (Seminole, Fla.) and took the lead, 2-1, on an RBI single from Howard.
It was the Lady Mocs turn to answer in the top of the second as they exploded for four runs on four hits to take a 5-2 lead. UTC used a pair of run scoring singles, a bases loaded walk and a fielder's choice to score their runs. Charleston used a different approach the following inning as they used a combination of four hits and a pair of walks to score four runs of their own.
That frame, Howard lined a two RBI double while sophomore first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) singled home a run and sophomore outfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.) took a bases loaded walk for the other run to give CofC a 6-5 lead. UTC tied the game at 6-6 in the fourth inning, however, as senior third baseman Toni Hutchison drew a bases loaded walk of her own.
Howard then helped make sure that the Lady Mocs would not have another comeback as she drilled a two-run home run to highlight another four-run inning, this time in the bottom of the fourth. That shot tied her career-high for a single season with eight.
Junior third baseman Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Amber Shifflett accounted for the other runs in the inning as they each had an RBI singles. The score would stay that way until the top of the seventh inning when freshman Jenni Martin drilled a pinch hit home run over the left field fence with two outs to reach the final margin.
Sophomore first baseman Michelle Fuzzard led Chattanooga with a 2-for-3, two RBI day while Stiles finished 1-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and two walks. Junior Kaity Kelley, freshman shortstop Jessica Traxler, Martin and Hutchison each added an RBI to round out the offensive attack. Sophomore Kandice Irwin started and threw six innings, allowing six hits, six runs and five walks to take the loss and fall to 8-11.
Howard had one of her best days of the season as she led Charleston with a 3-for-4, five-RBI day that included her eighth home run while Amber Shifflett went 3-for-3 with three runs and a program record tying three steals. That mark ties the record held by Brooke Flowers (4/14/01), Brooke Fuller (3/14/98) and Stephanie Owens (4/24/01).
Kotchman belted her second home run of the season and went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs while Nutaitis was 2-for-4 with an RBI single. In the pitching circle, Howard threw six innings of relief, allowing five hits and three runs to earn her second victory of the weekend on move to 7-11 on the year.
With the victory, the College of Charleston secured the No. 2 seed in the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament and will face No. 7 Samford at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. The tournament will be held in Chattanooga, Tenn. and run from May 6-9.
NOTES
With the two victories this weekend, the College of Charleston has now defeated Chattanooga at least twice in four of the last five seasons ... the only time they did not was 2007 when they won only one game against them ... with her three steals, Amber Shifflett extends her program record streak to 40 consecutive stolen bases.
