College of Charleston
Elon
Mesko's three-hitter and Maurer's triple give CofC split with Elon.
3/27/2010 9:00:00 PM | Softball
ELON, N.C. - Senior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) pitched seven innings and allowed only three hits and senior catcher Amanda Maurer (Haubstadt, Ind.) delivered the go-ahead RBI triple in the sixth as the College of Charleston (9-15, 1-3) earned a split with Elon (19-7, 6-2) in a Southern Conference double-header on Saturday, March 27. CofC dropped the first game 8-0 and took the nightcap by a 4-1 score.
Following a scoreless first inning in which the Cougars escaped runners in scoring position, Elon broke through with five, two-out unearned runs in the second to take a 5-0 lead. The Phoenix capitalized on a dropped fly ball with a pair of runners on base and then extended the inning on an errant throw.
From there, junior pitcher Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) notched a strong performance as she faced the minimum over the next two innings to stay within five. In the fifth inning, however, a lead off hit to right by freshman outfielder Tomeka Watson followed by an error and a groundout pushed the lead to 6-0. Elon then led off the sixth with a single, sacrifice bunt and a two-RBI single by freshman pinch hitter Morgan Wright to close out the game with an 8-0, six inning victory.
Sophomore pitcher Erin O'Shea pitched six innings and earned the two-hit, shutout victory despite nine illegal pitches while junior infielder Ashlee Crewe and junior second baseman Jackie Gonzalez each had two RBIs. Wright, Watson and junior outfielder Hannah Shelton each added an RBI for the Phoenix.
Junior shortstop Hillary Stringer (Summerville, S.C.) and redshirt-senior second baseman Amber Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) had the only two hits for the College of Charleston and redshirt-junior catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) reached base on two of the Cougars season-high five hit-by-pitches. Junior pitcher Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) pitched a complete-game, allowing only two earned runs to fall to 2-6.
In the nightcap, Elon got on the board early as Gonzalez popped a bunt down the leftfield line that went for a double and then scored on a sacrifice bunt by junior outfielder Emerald Graham. They would maintain that 1-0 lead in the top of the second as they held off a CofC rally that saw the Cougars advance runners to second and third with only one out. A pair of groundouts from the next two batters then ended the threat.
The score would stay that way until the top of the fifth inning when Amber Shifflett belted a 2-2 pitch over the left centerfield fence for her second homerun of the season, tying the score at 1-1. Senior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) then set down Elon in order the following inning, recording a pair of strikeouts in the process.
That effort would pay off in the sixth inning as Kelley Dillon reached on a fielder's choice and then scored on a triple down the right field line by senior catcher Amanda Maurer (Haubstadt, Ind.). Mesko retired the first batter by strikeout in the bottom of the inning before junior outfielder Hannah Shelton tripled to center for the second hit of the game. A foul pop out to third then accounted for the second out before Amber Shifflett handled a hot smash at second for the final out of the inning.
The Cougars took advantage of a pair of two out walks and an error in the top of the seventh to load the bases before Dillon then laced a two-RBI double down the left field line to push the lead to 4-1 heading into the home half of the inning. Following a lead off single, CofC then notched three straight outs to close out the 4-1 victory.
Graham accounted for the only Elon run as she went 1-for-3 while Lauren Taylor pitched 6.2 innings, striking out seven and allowing all four runs to take the loss and drop to 8-3.
Dillon went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a double for the College of Charleston while Maurer and Amber Shifflett delivered the other RBIs for the Cougars.
The College of Charleston wraps up the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
