College of Charleston
Elon
College of Charleston drops series finale at Elon 5-4
3/28/2010 6:00:00 PM | Softball
ELON, N.C. - Junior shortstop Hillary Stringer (Summerville, S.C.) and sophomore first baseman Kelley Dillon (Hanahan, S.C.) each hit solo homeruns but it was not enough as the College of Charleston (9-16, 1-4) barely dropped the series finale to Elon (20-7, 7-2) by a 5-4 score in a Southern Conference softball game on Sunday, March 28.
The Phoenix got on the board early as a lead off walk followed by a double from freshman outfielder Tomeka Watson put runners on second and third with no outs. CofC then got the next two outs on a pair of pop ups and were a strike away from ending the threat before sophomore pitcher Erin O'Shea doubled to the right field gap to give Elon a 2-0 lead. Sophomore outfielder Amanda Lonergan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) then doubled to lead off the top of the second and the Cougars would add a second runner on a two-out walk before Elon induced an inning-ending flyout to center.
Junior third baseman Caitlin McGowan opened the next inning with a lead off single and then came around to score on a double down the third base line by sophomore Danielle Lafferty on the next play. Junior outfielder Hannah Shelton then repeated that feat with an RBI double to left to make it 4-0. Following that play, senior pitcher Terri Mesko (McDonough, Ga.) entered the game in relief and retired the next two batters in order to prevent any further damage.
Mesko would stretch that run to eight of the first nine batters to face her as she held the Phoenix at 4-0 through the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth the Cougars would get on the board as Hillary Stringer belted her second career homerun to make it 4-1. A single by junior outfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.) and a walk to senior designated hitter Kristie Shifflett (Virginia Beach, Va.) then put runners on first and second before Elon ended the threat with a strikeout.
CofC would make it two straight innings that they put up a score, however, as Kelley Dillon lead off the sixth with a deep drive down the left field line for her second career homerun, narrowing the gap to 4-2. The Cougars would get no closer in the inning, though, as the next three batters went down in order.
In the home half of the sixth inning, Elon's Erin O'Shea reached on an error, advanced to second on a sac bunt and third on a single. A bloop single to center by pinch hitter Pam DelPizzo then gave the Phoenix a very important insurance run as O'Shea came around to score to make it 5-2.
The College of Charleston quickly made it 5-3 in the top of the seventh as they earned two walks to lead off the inning and advanced both runners on a wild pitch before Stringer scored on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly by sophomore outfielder Amanda Lonergan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) made it 5-4 and advanced a runner to second with two outs. Kristie Shifflett then walked to make it first and second but that would be all the Cougars would get as Elon retired the final batter on a groundout to secure the one-run victory.
O'Shea led the Phoenix efforts as she went 1-for-3 with two RBIs while Shelton, DelPizzo and sophomore designated hitter Danielle Lafferty each added an RBI. Junior shortstop Caitlin McGowan finished 2-for-2 with a run scored and O'Shea pitched six innings, allowing all four runs, to earn the victory and improve to 10-2.
For the Cougars, Kelley Dillon went 2-for-4 with a homerun and an RBI while Stringer finished 1-for-2 with two runs and her second career homerun. Lonergan added CofC's only other RBI and junior pitcher Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) took the loss to fall to 2-7 on the year.
The College of Charleston concludes its five-game road trip on Tuesday, March 30 at South Carolina State. First pitch of the double-header is slated for 1 p.m.
