College of Charleston
No. 7 Samford
College of Charleston Drops 6-1 Decision to No. 7 Samford in SoCon First Round
5/7/2009 6:45:00 PM | Softball
Boxscore - No. 7 Samford vs. No. 2 College of Charleston
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. ? Three hits, including a pair of doubles, from redshirt junior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) was not enough as No. 7 Samford (20-28, 10-14) defeated the College of Charleston (23-25, 14-9) 6-1 in the first round of the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament.
Samford got on the board early, taking a 1-0 lead on a passed ball in the first inning before allowing CofC to tie the game at 1-1 in similar fashion in the bottom of the third inning. In that frame, Amber Shifflett lead off with her second double of the game, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a pass ball following a pitching change.
The Bulldogs would regain the lead the following inning as a hit batter and throwing error allowed the first two batters to reach, putting runners on the corners with no outs. A single by freshman left fielder Amy Gonzalez then made it 2-1 before a pair of fielder's choices got the Cougars out of any further trouble.
The score would not stay that way long, however, as Samford exploded for four runs on five hits in the fifth inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead. In that inning, three straight doubles led to the first run and put runners on second an third with no outs. A sacrifice bunt from junior catcher Whitney Terry brought in the second run on the next play and was followed by an infield single to load the bases.
After a pop out to second gave CofC two outs and a chance to get out of the inning trailing by three, senior outfielder Jessica Owens laced a two-RBI single to left center to make it 6-1. That would be all the Bulldogs would need as they allowed one hit over the next two innings before squelching a Cougar rally in the seventh after back-to-back singles led off the inning.
Owens led Samford with two RBIs and a run on a 1-for-3 day while Terry, senior first baseman Kristy Lawrence and Gonzalez each added single RBIs. Freshman catcher Robyn Harmon contributed a 2-for-4 day at the plate and scored a run. Junior pitcher Amanda Barrs started and went 2.1 innings, allowing six hits and a run, before giving way to junior pitcher Stephanie Royall in the third inning. She then threw 4.2 scoreless innings and allowed only three hits to earn the victory and move to 9-9 on the year.
For Charleston, Amber Shifflett went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored while senior outfielder Tiffany Harmon (Lynn Haven, Fla.) finished 2-for-4 on the day. Junior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) started and threw 4.0 innings, allowing three hits and three runs to suffer the loss and fall to 11-10 on the season. Senior pitcher Shannon Howard (Carmichael, Calif.) pitched three innings of relief and allowed five hits and three runs while striking out two.
The College of Charleston will now face No. 6 UNC Greensboro, who lost to No. 3 Appalachian State, in the loser's bracket at 5:00 p.m. That game will be played at Warner Park's Field 1 and is an elimination game.
NOTES
The Cougars are now 1-4 all-time against Samford ... that victory came this season on March 15 by a 6-4 decision in Birmingham, Alabama ... CofC is 0-2 against the Bulldogs in post season play, having lost by an 8-2 score on April 30, 1993 when both schools were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference.
