College of Charleston
Charleston Southern
Cougars fall to Charleston Southern by scores of 3-2 and 6-4
2/24/2010 2:00:00 AM | Softball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston (3-6) dropped a pair of close contests to Charleston Southern (7-4-1) in a non-conference softball double-header at Patriots Point on Tuesday, February 23.
The Buccaneers got on the board early in Game 1 as senior first baseman Megan Hall got on base, stole second and scored on a double to right by junior third baseman Shayla Cullum to make it 1-0. That lead would hold up until the third inning when Cougars right fielder Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a two-run home run by senior designated hitter Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) to give CofC a 2-1 lead.
CSU tied it up in the fifth when Hall struck again, singling through the left side, swiping her second base and scoring on a fielding error. With the score remaining tied at 2-2 in the top of the seventh, the Bucs loaded the bases behind a lead-off double, a single and a walk before taking the lead on a full count walk. A 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh would then secure the 3-2 victory.
Hall finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of runs while Cullum accounted for the only two RBIs. For CofC, Kristie Shifflett's two-run homerun accounted for the Cougars' only offense while sophomore outfielder Amanda Lonergan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) finished the game 2-for-3. Junior Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) pitched a complete game and allowed six hits, three runs, one earned and struck out eight batters to fall to 1-3.
Charleston Southern began the second game much as they had the first, with Hall scoring on a first-inning double by Cullum to give CSU a 1-0 advantage. They would add a second run in the third as Hall opened the inning with a single and came around to score on a single by freshman second baseman Jessica Peters-Brock before the Cougars responded in the bottom of the inning.
In that frame, back-to-back doubles by freshman shortstop Erica Kaufman (Berkeley, S.C.) and redshirt-senior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) narrowed the gap to 2-1 before junior outfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.) belted her second homerun of the year to give CofC a 3-2 lead. The score would stay that way until the top of the sixth when sophomore designated hitter Kristin Kelleher and sophomore outfielder Melissa Adams produced RBI singles for a 4-3 lead.
A Woodall single to start the home half of the inning and a Lonergan base hit tied the game at 4-4 and a scoreless seventh sent the game to extra innings for the first time this season for the Cougars. Neither team could push a run across in the eighth but CSU notched a pair of runs in the top of the ninth as sophomore shortstop Megan Lombard had an RBI triple and was followed by an RBI single from Hall to give the Bucs a 6-4 advantage. Junior Kimberly Hobbs then set CofC down in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the two-run victory.
Megan Hall led Charleston Southern with a 3-for-4, one RBI day while Lombard, Cullum and Peters-Brock each added an RBI. For the Cougars, Woodall finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Lonergan notched her second straight 2-for-3 game, adding an RBI. Amber Shifflett produced the only other RBI for CofC.
The College of Charleston returns to action on Saturday, February 27 when Campbell visits Patriots Point for a 2 p.m. double-header.
